Ivangorod Fortress (Russia)

The Ivangorod fortress is a Russian medieval castle established by Moscovian Grand Prince Ivan III in 1492 and has since grown up in the city of Ivangorod. The castle is closely quadrilateral with walls 14 meters. The original castle was built in just one summer. Its purpose was to fend off the Knights of Livonia. The castle is closely quadrilateral with walls 14 meters.

Ivangorod was won later in the year by the Muscovites by Livoni forces, under the command of Prince Ivan and Mikhail Klyapin Gundar. Three thousand soldiers arrived to resume the castle, rebuild it, and build a new barracks and strongest bastions. For nearly 10 years, the land around the castle was in constant war. The fort and the land around passed hands several times. The castle was rebuilt and strengthened several times, becoming one of the strongest defenses in the 16th century. The castle was being developed until the 17th century, becoming a big, sprawling fortress with several lines of defense.

The peace of teusina (1595) returned the fortress to the Russians. In 1612, the Swedes captured the fortress, which was bravely defended by a voivode, Fyodor Aminev (b 1560, d 1628) and his sons. With the Stolbova Treaty, Ingria was sold to Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden. In 1704, Peter the Great captured the castle from the Swedish troops, bringing the fortress back to Russian control. Inside the fortress, there are two churches: one is dedicated to the Virgin (1496) and the other to St. Nicholas (built in the late 16th century, but then rebuilt).

After the 18th century, the military role of the fort was reduced due to technological advances. In 1728, a review was conducted of the fortresses in this area, which concluded that the installation had been neglected, and had a low combat efficiency. An order was issued for the restoration of the Ivangorod fortress, but after inspection of 1738 the fortress was designated not suitable for the purpose of defense.

In 1840, some improvements have been made in the fortress (roofs have been changed), further improvements have taken place in 1863 and 1911 to 1914. During World War II, the fortress was captured by the Germans on February 25, 1918. From 1919 to 1940, the fortress belonged to Estonia. Despite changing hands several times in the first half of the 20th century, the fortress played no significant role in the fight.

During World War II, it was controlled by the Soviet Union (1940-1941) and then by Nazi Germany (1941-1944), who established two camps in the fortress and left many of its buildings damaged after their retreat . After the annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940 Ivangorod fortress was part of the Russian Soviet Republic. The city and the fort remained with Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the restoration of the independent Republic of Estonia in 1990. Currently, the fort serves as a museum.