Priozersk known before 1948 in Finnish as Kakisalmi is a town and the administrative center of Priozersky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the northwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern armlet of the Vuoksi River on the Karelian Isthmus. It is served by a station of the same name on the St. Petersburg—Khiytola railway. History : The main landmark of Priozersk, the Korela Fortress, has historically been the center for the Karelians of the Karelian Isthmus and from time to time the northwestern outpost of the realm of the Russians or the eastern outpost of the realm of the Swedes.
From the Middle Ages, Priozersk was known as Korela to Russians and Kakisalmi to Karelians and Finns. The town was a part of Vodskaya pyatina of the Novgorod Republic. Novgorod taxation documents from 1500 list 183 houses in Korela, suggesting an estimated population of 1,500–2,000. The Swedes captured Korela twice: in 1578 for seventeen years and in 1611 for a hundred years. In the Swedish Empire, the fortress was called Kexholm and the whole region became known as the County of Kexholm. Russia definitively secured the area during the Great Northern War the town’s Swedish name was retained, however, as Keksgolm . Unfortunately, wars and devastating fires in 1300, 1580, 1634, and 1679 took their toll on the civilian population. Consequently, when the town gained its first court house in 1800, the population was only 400.
In 1812, as the Grand Duchy of Finland three years earlier had been formed within the Russian Empire, Tsar Alexander I incorporated Keksgolm with the rest of Old Finland (Vyborg Governorate) into an autonomous region. Keksgolm was the smallest city in the governorate. Since 1812, Vyborg Governorate was known as the Viipuri Province. In 1918, Finland became independent. Town’s growth was boosted by the construction of the St. Petersburg–Hiitola railway in 1917 and by establishing two big saw mills and a big Ab Waldhof Oy’s wood pulp mill in 1929. In 1939, Kakisalmi had a population of 5083. Around the town laid the rural municipality of Kakisalmi, with a population of 5,100. Minorities were Orthodox (946 persons), Swedish, Russian, or German. Total population was 11,129 in 1939.
The Winter War on November 30, 1939 began with the Soviet attack. Eventually, after hard fighting, Finland was forced to cede Kakisalmi and the whole of Finnish Karelia to the Soviet Union by the terms of the 1940 Moscow Peace Treaty. During the Continuation War in 1941–1944, Finland gained back Keksgolm and other territories ceded to the Soviets in 1940. The population returned to rebuild the town, but were again evacuated at the close of World War II.
Keksgolmsky District with the administrative center in Keksgolm was established as a part of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Karelian ASSR) in March 1940. On March 31, 1940, the Karelian ASSR was transformed into the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic. On November 24, 1944, Keksgolmsky District was transferred from the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic to Leningrad Oblast.
On October 1, 1948, Keksgolm was renamed Priozersk as a part of the campaign to rename localities in the areas annexed from Finland after the Second World War. Priozersk was settled with mainly Russians, Belorussian, and Ukrainian migrants, who have since comprised the majority of the local population.
Access : Coordinates: 61.05, 30.133333 / Priozersk railway station is located on the Saint Petersburg – Hiitola railroad connecting Saint Petersburg and Sortavala via Hiitola. There is suburban and long-distance service to Finland Station in Saint Petersburg. The town is connected by roads with Saint Petersburg, Vyborg, and Sortavala.
Attractions :
Korela Fortress : 3, Leningradskoye Shosse, Priozersk (town), Leningrad Region , Open: June 1 to August 31: Daily, 9 am to 7 pm. September 1 to May 31: Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm.
Korela Fortress Museum : Leningradskoye hwy, 3, Priozersk 188760, RussiaOpen today: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Tank IS-3 : Leningradskoye Hwy, Priozersk, Russia
Evangelical Lutheran Church : Leningradskaya St., 8, Priozersk 188760, Russia
All Saints Church : Pushkina St., 17, Priozersk 188760, Russia
Monument to Rurik : Leningradskoye hwy, 3 | Fortress Korela, Priozersk 188760, Russia
Monument to Mowgli : Petrovskiy Park, Priozersk, Russia
Bed of Honor of Soviet Soldiers Who Died in the ww2 : | City Cemetery, Priozersk, Russia
Memorial Finnish Dragon’s Teeth : Priozersk, Russia
Chapel of St. Alexis the Metropolitan of Moscow : Suvorova Street, Priozersk, Russia
Chapel of Alexander Nevskiy : | City Cemetery, Priozersk, Russia
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin : Kalinina St., 5, Priozersk 188760, Russia
Museum of Local Lore : Korela’s Fortress, Priozersk, Russia
Valaam Transfiguration Monastery : Pushkina St., 17, Priozersk 188760, Russia
Memorable Sign to Kexholm Regiment in the Fortress of Korela : Leningradskoye hwy, 3, Priozersk 188760, RussiaOpen today: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Bust of Peter The Great : Kalinina St., Priozersk, Russia
Monument on the Site of the Finnish Military Cemetery Kyakisalmi : Leningradskaya Street, Priozersk, Russia.
Go next : Kingisepp / Lodeynoye Polye / Shlisselburg / Staraya Ladoga / Svetogorsk / Tikhvin / Vyborg
