THE NEVA PROJECT: SITE 4
Shlisselburg and Fort Oreshek
SHLISSELBURGis an ancient fortress town on Lake Ladoga, at the source of the Neva river. In medieval days it changed hands many times between Swedish and Russian domination, until Peter the Great finally retrieved it from Sweden in 1702. He named it his "Key City" because of its strategic importance as an eastern defense post for St. Petersburg as well as an important trading port.
ORESHEK is a fortress island at the source of the Neva. It served as a defensive fort and intermittently as a prison from the fourteenth century until World War II. The fort itself has been destroyed and rebuilt many times and is now a museum.
LAKE LADOGA is the largest freshwater lake in Europe. The Neva River is its only outlet, carrying fresh water from the lake and its large drainage basin into the Baltic Sea.
