Haunting History of: Koporye , Leningrad Oblast, Russia, Koporye is a historic village, it contains some of the most impressive medieval ruins in Russia. Russians believed that the world is full of spirits which live next to people, but can be very rarely seen by them.The spirits inhabited forests, lakes, fields and even houses One of the most curious and widespread beliefs of the peasants is that every house contains a domovoi or house-spirit. Russian peasants catch glimpses of the domovoi about as often as we see ghosts, but they all believe in his existence. ..I expect these medieval Forts would be great to investigate :) The first wooden fortress on the coast of the Koporye Bay was built by the Teutonic Knights in 1240, only to be destroyed by Alexander Nevsky the next year. The second fortress was built in stone by Alexanders son Dmitry Alexandrovich in 1280. Enraged by the princes independence, the Novgorodians razed the fortress two years later. The Swedes took advantage of the lack of a fortress and occupied the banks of the Narova river. The Novgorodians had to restore the stone fort in 1297. Koporye was the strongest stronghold in the region and survived numerous attacks during the Swedish-Novgorodian Wars. After Novgorods incorporation into Muscovy, the fortress was strengthened and rebuilt to withstand cannon fire. Most extant structures belong to that period. Russian forces surrendered Koporye during the Livonian War but regained it under the Treaty of Tyavzino. During the Time of Troubles Koporye was attacked by 2,500 Swedes, ten times more than the defenders. The Russian garrison had to surrender, and Koporye remained Swedish until 1703, known as Koporje or Caporie/Capurien, a residential town of the län of Caporie, constituting an important part of Swedish Ingria. As the Gulf of Finland grew shallow and receded to the north, the site began to lose its maritime importance. In 1703, during the Great Northern War, a major Russian army under Boris Sheremetev regained Koporye, which was defended by 80 Swedish soldiers under the commandant, Captain Wasili Apolloff. Huge gaps in the walls from the disastrous fire of the Russian artillery may still be seen. Despite some repairs undertaken in the 19th century, the fortress survives in a ruined state. The 15th century Church of the Transfiguration within the fortress is also in ruins. en.wikipedia.org Photo 1 by Sergey Nemanov Entrance to Koporye Fortress. Photo 2 by img-fotki.yandex.ru/get/15/goodwin45.2/0_8342_db742536_XL Photo 3 By CopperTeaPot Steps to ancient wars between Novgorod and Sweden tripadvisor- Photo 4 by Eugene Sergeev old-fortress-wall-fragment-with-windows-koporye-russiacolourbox-
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 15:02:42 +0000
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