Ivangorod Fortress on the very border with Estonia is the first Russian fortress on the Baltic. It was built in stages: now you can see several lines of walls of different times, buildings built from the 16th to 19th century, two churches of the 15th and 18th centuries, and not far from the fortress there is a museum of military architecture and an art gallery with the largest in Russia collection of works by I. Bilibin.
History of the fortress
Now Ivangorod is located on the border with Estonia - it runs just along the Narva River. We know the exact date of the founding of the city - it is 1492. These were the years when the Principality of Moscow was at war with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Lithuania in those years - a vast state, which included the territory of modern Poland and the Baltics. Clashes between Lithuania and Moscow began because of disputed territories, which were subordinate to Novgorod, but continued to pay tribute to Lithuania. It was essentially a battle over trade routes leading to the Baltic Sea.
Both sides turned to allies: Ivan III made an alliance with the Crimean Khanate, and Lithuanian Prince Casimir IV with the Great Horde. The most famous episode of this war is the famous standing on the Ugra River in 1480, when the troops of the Great Horde came to the Russian lands, but without waiting for help from the Lithuanians, turned back.
Since the late 1480s, active military operations in the border regions began. The war was not officially declared, so historians call it "strange" - it simply resulted in a series of skirmishes between the garrisons of border fortresses, appanage princes and individual detachments of troops.
It was in the midst of this undeclared war that Ivan III decided to build a new border fortress "on the German frontier". Ivan-gorod became the first Russian fortress on the Baltic - it is located 12 versts from the Gulf of Finland. The fortress was originally wooden, and was destroyed by the Swedes four years after its foundation. After that it was rebuilt with stone.
In the 16-17th centuries the fortress, which stood on the border, changed hands several times. The Swedes captured it in 1581, in 1590 the voivode Dmitry Khvorostinsky took it back. In 1612 the Swedes regained control over these territories, and they again passed to Russia under Peter I.
After the revolution Narva and Ivangorod went to Estonia and returned to the USSR in 1940. Since 1944, the official border of the Estonian Soviet Union passed along the Narva River, Ivangorod became a border town.
Fortress
The fortress was built in the bend of the river, which protects it from three sides, on an elevation called Maiden Mountain. Originally it was very small, but after it was taken by the Swedes and had to be repulsed - it was greatly expanded. Another fortress was added to it, which was called Boyarsky (or Boyarsky) Town. One of the walls turned out to be common. The new fortress was built according to all the rules of fortification - quadrangular, with round corner and square wall towers. The walls were fifteen metres high and three metres thick. But there was still too much space between the river and the fortress. As a result, in 1507 another line of walls was built to protect the fortress from the river. The new protected space was called Castle. Then the fortress was expanded even further. To the walls of Boyarsky Gorod was added Front City, and in 1558 it was further fortified with Boyarsky Val. The latest part of the fortifications is the kronverk already built by the Swedes.
Several new structures appeared here in the 19th century: buildings of warehouses, cordiery and garrison school. In 1863 the fortress as a military unit was abolished and remained in the care of the city as a historical monument.
During the Great Patriotic War Ivangorod was in the zone of occupation. A concentration camp was set up here. Prisoners were forced to build defences of the "Panther" line, which passed just to the north, and during the retreat the Germans blew up several towers. Restoration began in 1947 - the blown-up towers were rebuilt from scratch, and the rest of the territory was cleared. Now Ivangorod fortress is a monument of federal importance and a museum territory.
Dormition Church
In the 16th century the Dormition Church was built. At the beginning of the 17th century the Swedes converted it into a kirkha, then at the beginning of the 18th century it was closed, and a new Nikolskaya church was built next to it. Both churches were built of stone with thick walls and narrow windows, with the expectation that they would serve as additional fortifications. The Church of the Assumption was reopened under Catherine II in 1744 - already just as a parish church for the residents of Narva. In the middle of the XVIII century the church was restored, in the XIX century it was renewed twice more - in the 50s and 90s.
The church was badly damaged during the Great Patriotic War, was restored after it, and in the 1980s it was opened as a concert hall. Since 1991 it has been a functioning church again. Now it has a side chapel in the name of the new martyr Alexander Volkov. This is a priest, the son of the rector of this church in the XIX century. His father served here for 47 years, and in 1907 he was succeeded by his son, Fr Alexander.
In December 1918, the Bolsheviks, who came to power in Estonia, issued decrees to stop all worship services and evict all clergy. All clergy were arrested, but some were expelled, and two of the most famous priests - the rector of the Church of the Assumption Fr. Alexander Volkova and the rector of the Znamensky Church Fr. Dmitry Chistoserdov were shot. In 2001, both priests were canonised.
Museum
Now the fortress continues to be improved and restored: the walls and towers are partially put in order, but when visiting the fortress it is better to be careful - there are no railings and lighting in dark places and corridors. From Ivangorod Fortress you can enjoy a wonderful view of the Narva Fortress located exactly opposite. The total perimeter of its walls is about one and a half kilometres.
The fortress is divided by walls into four parts. You can even see the remains of the very first small square fortress, which was then so actively expanded and completed. The largest territory is the Big Boyarsky Town: there are two churches, Uspenskaya and Nikolskaya, and a barn of the 17th century. Only one wall has not survived - the one that once separated the Boyarsky Town from the Fore Town. But the Boyarsky Town and the Castle are still separated by a thirty-metre wall of the 16th century - one of the most powerful walls in the northern Russian and Swedish fortresses. In the Swedish fortress of Narva opposite, they began to build a high watchtower from which they could see what was happening in the fortress of Ivangorod. In response, Ivangorod began to build this high wall to hide what was going on inside. Both the Narva watchtower and this wall were built up several times - there was an "arms race".
Near the outer walls of the fortress in the building of the former customs house is the Museum of Military Defence Architecture or the Museum of Eight Fortresses. It houses an archeological collection and models of all the nearby northern fortresses - Karela, Oreshk, Koporye, Pskov, Novgorod the Great, Vyborg, Stara Ladoga and others.
In the immediate vicinity of the fortress is another museum - the Art Gallery. It is located in the mansion of merchant F. Panteleev, built in the mid-19th century. The dynasty of merchants Panteleyev owned brick factories on the banks of the Narva River. Their bricks were used to build a huge number of buildings in Ivangorod, Narva and Tallinn - they were considered to be of the highest quality. The Panteleevs built their house from the same brick. In front of the house you can now see a "brick monument" - a stone pyramid in which an old brick with the branding "FYAP" - Filipp Yakovlevich Panteleev - is inserted. Since 1980 the mansion belongs to the Ivangorod Museum.
The jewel of the gallery is the collection of works by I. Bilibin, a famous illustrator of Russian fairy tales. I. Bilibin was in exile after the revolution, but then returned to Russia. In Ivangorod lived his pupil M. Pototsky, who in 1980 gave the city part of the artist's archive. There are sketches for theatre sets and drawings from the emigrant period. In addition to the works of I. Bilibin himself, the collection also includes drawings by his wife Alexandra Shchekatikhina-Potototsky. After returning with her husband from emigration, she worked at the porcelain factory in Lomonosov. The museum displays products of the famous Leningrad porcelain factory with "cobalt mesh", porcelain figurines of Gogol's characters and much more. The gallery is often so called - the Bilibin Museum in Ivangorod. However, there is also an exposition telling about the history of the city and the fortress itself, and exhibitions are held here.
Interesting facts
According to legend, the original size of the fortress was determined with the help of a horse hide. The hide was cut into thin cords and reinforced exactly the area that could be fenced with these cords.
As in many medieval fortresses, Ivangorod periodically holds knights' tournaments and other events of reconstructors.
On a side note
- Location: Ivangorod. Kingiseppskoe highway 6\1.
- How to get there: From Moscow and St. Petersburg by train №33/34 "Moscow-Tallin", from St. Petersburg by bus from the bus station "Obvodny" or by train from the Baltic railway station, then by bus № 2 to the station "Ivangorod". Be careful, as Ivangorod is a border territory, you need a border zone permit when entering the fortress. There is a military unit on the territory of the fortress, so photography is limited.
- Official website: https://vk.com/public57835167
- Opening hours: 10-00 to 20-00, museum expositions from 10-00 to 18-00.
- Ticket price: adult 250 rubles, discount 125 rubles.
