Ivangorod Fortress
Ivangorod Fortress (Russian: Ивангородская крепость; Estonian: Jaanilinna linnus; Votic: Jaanilidna) is a castle in Ivangorod, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It was built in the 15th century. It is located on the east bank of the Narva River, which currently forms the international border between Russia and Estonia, across from the city of Narva in Estonia.
Ivangorod Fortress was established during the reign of
History
The original castle was constructed in one summer, in the year 1492. It was named after
Ivangorod was won back from the Livonian Order later in the year by Muscovite forces under the command of Prince Ivan Gundar and Mikhail Klyapin. Three thousand troops arrived to retake the castle, rebuild it, and construct a new barracks and stronger bastions. For almost 10 years, the land around the castle was in constant warfare. The fortress and the land around changed hands repeatedly. The castle was reconstructed and fortified many times, becoming one of the strongest defensive structures in the 16th century. The castle was in development until the 17th century, becoming a large, sprawling fortress with several lines of defence.
The
After the early 18th century, the military role of the fortress dwindled due to technological advances. In 1728, a review was carried out of the fortresses in this area, which concluded that the installation had been neglected, and had a low fighting efficiency. An order was issued for restoration of the Ivangorod fortress, but after the inspection of 1738 the fortress was designated not adequate for defence purposes.
In 1840, some improvements were carried out in the fortress (roofs were renewed), and further improvements took place in 1863 and 1911-1914. During
During World War II, after the Soviet invasion and annexation of Estonia in 1940, the fortress was first controlled by the USSR (1940–1941) and then by Nazi Germany (1941–1944), which established two POW camps within the fortress and left many of its buildings damaged after their retreat. In January 1945 Soviet authorities defined the Narva river as the new administrative border between the Estonian SSR and Russian SFSR, and as a result the Ivangorod fortress transferred from Narva to the Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast. In August 1991, after the restoration of the independent Republic of Estonia, the town and fortress remained with Russian SFSR, and thereafter with the Russian Federation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. Currently, the fortress serves as a museum.
The museum
The history and art museum of the Ivangorod fortress exhibits paintings of
References
- ISBN 978-1-78096-984-8.
- OCLC 35657827.
- S2CID 143758720.