Having visited Koltushi, we go 30 km further and have a
look at the town of Shlisselburg (Petrokrepost), which is situated at the
mouth of the Neva, by Lake Ladoga.
Shlisselburg was founded by Peter I in
1702 (although there were people here from 1323), after the successful
storm of the Oreshek fortress.
8 September 1941, Shlisselburg, but not
Oreshek fortress, was taken by the Germans, and it was liberated in
January 1943. From 1944 to 1992 it was called Petrokrepost, and
subsequently it was given its old name back.
In the photo, you see the bridge across the Old Ladoga Canal, and
some factory buildings.
A bit closer...
The buildings appeared
to me to be rather old.
In the town, people mainly work in
shipbuilding and ship repair yards. Or, at least, that was what they
used to do :)
In general, as one of the readers told me, the town
looked like this ten years ago as well.
A concentration of churches by the
central square. It's the central square because buses and minibuses stop
there. Beside it is a monument to S.M. Kirov (totally neglected).
I'll
tell you right away a little about the church covered in scaffolding
(the middle one), as I didn't make any separate photograph of it.
On the plaque, it says:
"Architectural sight
Cathedral of the Annunciation
Built in 1764
Reconstructed in 1788-1795
Protected by the state"
If one goes to the right, there is a
bridge on pillars, which was built in 1832.
This is where the Old
Ladoga Canal flows into the Neva.
From this bridge, one sees the locks
(I'll tell more about them further on).
And this is the view one gets from the
same bridge in the opposite direction. One sees how the canal in places
has been filled up.
The Gostiny Dvor building at the other
side of the canal.
An interesting building in a state of
total disrepair.
But we follow the embankment.
This is a
flight of four locks, constructed in 1836.
Here is a lock in the foreground, and
further back, the Cathedral of the Annunciation.
By the locks, fishermen go about their
usual business.
There is fish: quite often, something shining comes
up.
A memorial to ships that sunk during the
Great Fatherland War (Second World War).
Also a church of sorts :)
The sign
says: "PRAYER HOUSE OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST"
The monument to Peter I looks very
lonely on the embankment. The monument, made by M.M. Antokolsky, was put
up in the 1950-1960s.
Some say it's the only monument to the Tsar that was put up in Soviet
times (apart from restored ones).
But we return for a moment to the
collection of churches before we continue along the bank.
The Church
of St. Nicholas at the same time looks like the Nakhimov Naval Academy
and the buildings of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.
To the right is a funny bell tower made from the material that was
available.
The chapel (1864, architect: G. Ershov)
As I've been told - again - it is placed in conflict with all rules with
the altar pointing in the wrong direction. But on the other hand, it is
aligned with the canal :)
A detail of the exterior.
Now we continue along the New Ladoga
Canal (to the left, parallel with the bank of Lake Ladoga).
The Oreshek fortress is clearly visible
across the narrow strait. The fortress is more or less described in
detail in Album 74.
The
pyramid-like construction to the left is not at all a hay-drying device,
as one may think, but a so-called "mark", which gives the direction of
ship passage. The idea is that when two such devices are aligned with
each other, the ship is moving in the right direction.
This looks like a flagstaff. I don't
know when it's from, but it's old beyond doubt.
On the other bank of the canal is an
interesting little house with two later additions. On the top is the
inscription "1901".
A path has been made to the house, and
where the ice is thin, somebody thoughtfully laid out boards.
To the right is a sign: "CROSSING CLOSED. DANGER!"
Next time, I'll show you something more cheerful...
