Abbreviations:
PSRL - Complete collection of Russian chronicles;
IVKM - The story of the Grand Duke of Moscow. Kurbsky A. M.
The first and second campaigns of Ivan IV
In the 16th century, the question of the Kazan Khanate arose in all its urgency before the Moscow government. The march to Kazan was decided. In December 1547, Ivan IV, at the head of his troops, moved to Nizhny Novgorod, where all the regiments had gathered, and from there down the Volga. But in February an early thaw came, the ice was covered with water, guns, squeaks, people were drowning. From Rabotki the tsar returned back to Moscow, ordering Prince Belsky to join the Shah-Ali to the mouth of Tsivil, and then to Kazan. After a seven-day siege of the city, the army retreated due to the approaching spring and thaw.
The first campaign, despite the failure, was of great importance for the formation of Ivan IV as a military leader. He became personally convinced of a number of major shortcomings in the organization of the Russian army; the experience of an unsuccessful campaign suggested to him two years later those military reforms that we discussed above. These reforms played a huge role in the conquest of the Volga region.
The death of Safa Giray and the enthronement of his young son Utyamysh strengthened the influence of the Crimean party. This forced Ivan IV to organize a campaign against Kazan again. On February 14, 1550, a 60,000-strong army surrounded the city from all sides, a siege line was built, and shooting began at the city. But suddenly a thaw came with strong winds and rain, and the siege had to be lifted. The second campaign also ended in failure, but it had very important consequences: Ivan IV decided to found a fortress in the immediate vicinity of Kazan on the Sviyaga River, which would serve as a strategic base.
In order not to carry out lengthy construction work on enemy territory, the tsar ordered the timber for the fortress walls to be cut in the upper reaches of the Volga: ... he summons his clerk Ivan Grigoriev, son Vyrodkov, and sends him, and with him the boyars’ children, to the Volga, to Uglishiy Uyazd, to Ushatyh patrimony, churches and cities, and in court with the governors to lead to Niz.”
In April, while timber was being harvested for the fortress walls, another strategic maneuver of major importance was undertaken - the blockade of Kazan was launched. From Vyatka he ordered Bautiyar Zyuzin and the Vyatchans to come to the Kama, and over the Volga the sovereign sent Cossacks, and ordered them to stand on all transports, along the Kama along the Volga, and along the Vyatka River, so that military people from Kazan and to Kazan would not go.”
The seizure by Russian troops of transportation across the Volga and Kama changed the whole life of Kazan and the Volga villages, trade froze.
In May 1550, all the harvested timber arrived on rafts to the mouth of Sviyaga. The round mountain was cleared, the construction of fortifications began with gorodny ones, that is, log houses placed end to end, but the building material harvested in the upper reaches of the Volga was not enough, so the forest had to be cut down along the banks of the Sviyaga. The scribal books of Sviyazhsk, compiled in 1565, mark precisely the areas built from the local forest: ... from the Sergievsky Gate, Verkhovsky rubles, the city to the Sviyazhsky rubles 70 fathoms, and goroden 25, and on the fragments there are 36 vokonov, and a staircase from the city, and from Verkhovsky rubles, Sviyazhsky rubles of the city to the Sergievsky tower are 54 sazhens, and goroden is 20 Sviyazhsky rubles*.”
List from the Scribes and Landmark Books of the city of Sviyazhsk. - Kazan, 1909. - P. 6. [Translated into modern language: From the Sergiev Gate, 70 fathoms of walls were built from forest cut down in the upper reaches of the Volga (Uglich), 25 gorodneys, there were 36 cut windows on the oblamas and a staircase on the side of the fortress. From this section, the wall was built from forest cut down near Sviyazhsk, 54 fathoms long and consisted of 20 gorodnys.” Gorodni are log buildings filled with earth and stones. Oblamas are special remote platforms with protected walls made of one or two logs. Holes were made in the floor of the oblast - windows (loopholes) (Ostroumov V.P., Chumakov V.V. Sviyazhsk. History of planning and development. - Kazan, 1971. - P. 12). M.K. Kargsr wrote: “Windows on the rubble” are nothing more than loopholes through which soldiers fired at the enemy advancing on the fortress” (Karger M.K. Fortress structures of Sviyazhsk (Materials on the history of wooden fortress architecture) // IOAIE, vol. XXXIV. - Issue 3-4. - Kazan, 1929.-P. 141) (K.R).
Based on the scribe books of Sviyazhsk, compiled in 1565, it is difficult to draw a conclusion about the height of the fortress walls and towers, but their nature and number are indicated with great accuracy. From the description it is clear that special attention was paid to the weaker south-eastern side, and the most a large number of towers, archers, gates with high watchtowers.
From the chronicles we learn about the tension of the vibrant life of Novgorod of Sviyazhsk in the period from 1551 to 1552. Embassies from Moscow and Kazan came here, liberated Russian prisoners received the sovereign's food here, mountain people came to take the oath to the Moscow state.
The founding of a Russian fortress on the mountainous side of the Volga meant the annexation of the entire right bank, and the Moscow government firmly defended its acquisitions in peace negotiations with Kazan. The importance of the founding of Sviyazhsk as a stronghold for further operations against Kazan was quite correctly assessed by contemporaries. The Crimeans wrote to Moscow at the end of the 16th century: ...your king also wants to do the same as over Kazan, first they put the city close, and then they took Kazan, but Crimea is not Kazan.”
The enormous role of Sviyazhsk as a strategic base was fully revealed during the siege of Kazan in 1552. At the end of August, a terrible hurricane broke out on the Volga, ships with food and equipment were destroyed, but everything needed was immediately transferred from Sviyazhsk.
Construction of the walls of the Sviyazhsk fortress. Drawing from the “Royal Book”
The Kazan government made concessions: it agreed to hand over Safa’s son Girey Utyamysh and his mother to Queen Syuyumbek. The Kazan embassy, headed by Prince Nur Ali, developed a draft peace treaty: all the advantages under this treaty were on the side of the Kazan Khanate. The upland side of the Volga went to him, all taxes and income were received, complete autonomy was ensured, but according to the agreement, a Russian governor had to be at the head. The Moscow government agreed to all the terms of the agreement, a detachment of archers was introduced into Kazan, and Semeon Mikulinsky was appointed governor.
On March 9, 1552, the governor, accompanied by Prince Islam, Prince Kebek, Murza Alik Narykov, left Sviyazhsk for Kazan, where Voivode Cheremisinov swore in the Kazan people, but when Voivode Mikulinsky drove up to the Tsar’s Gate, they were locked, since Kebek and Nary The Kovs arrived first and started an uprising. The Russian detachment located in Kazan was destroyed. War with the Kazan Khanate thus became inevitable.
Preparations for the third campaign against Kazan
Preparations for a new decisive campaign against Kazan were carried out under the direct leadership of Ivan IV. As stated above, it was organized standing army Streltsov, all the military equipment of that time was brought in, a foreign expert in mine blasting, Razmysl, was invited, food supplies and equipment were sent to Sviyazhsk in advance, Ivan IV decided to lead this campaign. He introduced a number of fundamental changes to the strategic plan for the conquest of the Kazan Khanate. Usually, Russian troops marched to Kazan in separate detachments, for example, in 1545, part of the army was sent on ships along the Volga, the other moved from Vyatka and Cherdyn, as a result, the northern detachment was late and was destroyed, and the Volga detachment stood for several days near Kazan and returned back to Moscow.
The construction of Sviyazhsk made it possible for Ivan IV to draw up a different plan of attack: to outline a place for gathering the main forces at one point in order to simultaneously begin the siege of Kazan. The question of choosing the time for the hike was also thought out. Shah Ali proposed a new campaign, like the previous ones, to be made in winter time, since in summer access to Kazan was difficult due to impassable swamps. But Ivan IV expected to transfer heavy artillery to Kazan along the Volga, as well as use tunneling and explosions, which would have been difficult in winter conditions. And the trip in the summer months was decided.
On May 21, ships with artillery under the command of Voivode Morozov sailed to Sviyazhsk. Northern route significant detachments were also sent: ... and the sovereign sent the boyar Prince Mikhail Vasilievich Glinsky, and the okolnichy Ivan Ivanovich the Smart, and with him the boyar children, and Cossacks, and archers [...] to the Kama. And from Vyatka he ordered Spider Zabolotsky to go to the Kama.”
According to the Royal Book" rank command staff was the following: ... In the large regiment, the boyar and governor, Prince Ivan Fedorovich Mstislavsky, and the servant and governor, Prince Mikhailo Ivanovich Vorotynsky; and in the leading regiment, the boyar and governor, Prince Ivan Ivanovich Pronsky and Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Khilkov; and in the right hand are the boyar and governor Prince Pyotr Mikhailovich Shchenyatiev, and Prince Andrei Mikhailovich Kurbskoy; and in the left hand of the governor is Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Mikulinsky and Dmitry Mikhailovich Pleshcheev. [...] And in the guard regiment there is a boyar and governor, Prince Vasily Semenovich Serebryanoy, and Semyon Vasilyevich Sheremetyev [...]. And in his regiment, the sovereign ordered the boyars Prince Volodymer Ivanovich Vorotynsky and Ivan Vasilievich Sheremetev to be courtyard governors.”
On June 16, the royal regiment led by Ivan IV set out from Moscow to Kolomna; other regiments were supposed to gather in Kashira.
In Kolomna, a report was received about the siege of Tula by the Crimean Khan Davlet-Girey, who was going to Moscow to help the Kazan Khanate. I had to change the route and move part of the troops to Tula. Having learned about the approach of the Russian army, Davlet-Girey fled, abandoning his carts and guns. Only on July 20 did the opportunity arise to continue the march to Kazan. To avoid crowding and secure the right flank, the regiments marched in two columns: one from Ryazan through the Meshchera land, the other to Arzamas, to the mouth of the Alatyr. Kurbsky explains the selection of the right column in this way: .... we have already blocked it (Tsarsky and other regiments - O.Kh.) with the army that came with us from the Trans-Volga Tatars ... ".
At the Barancheev settlement on Sura, all the regiments were supposed to unite and go across the watershed to Sviyaga.
Along the way, Tatar detachments from Temnikov and Kasimov joined. The Royal Book" gives a detailed description of the stations of the left wing along the entire route, most of them are associated with rivers, tracts, but some names are so distorted that it is impossible whole line camps to be mapped. Before the Piana River, the army moved along the shortest route to Arzamas, but after crossing the Pyaiu it began to deviate to the south. The reason for such a deep entry is not entirely clear, since there were no strongholds in this direction. The following motives for the indicated route can be put forward: 1) in the spring of 1552, a report about the betrayal of the mountain people came to Moscow: ... the mountain people changed everything and settled with Kazan,” the movement of troops as a result of this in the northeast direction would be risky; 2) it was considered difficult to provide food for a huge army in sparsely populated areas on the right bank of the Volga; in this regard, Zasurye represented more opportunities, since numerous Mordovian tribes lived here and agriculture flourished. Kurbsky notes in this regard: ...with hunger and with much need, the great river Sura came and went, [...] and that day we ate dry bread with much sweetness and thanksgiving.”
Having reached the valley of the Sviyaga River, above the confluence of the Karla River, the army began to move up the Sviyaga in battle formation, since the troops were on the territory of the Kazan Khanate and an attack could be expected. Three regiments came out from Sviyazhsk to meet the Russian army. The first was composed of previously arrived detachments, service people, at the head of the regiment were the governors Saltykov, Gorbaty, the second regiment included the garrison of Sviyazhsk, the names of Adashev, Romodanovsky, Mikulinsky are mentioned, the third regiment consisted exclusively of the local population: ... many mountain people . princes of the Imyrzas (Murzas - O.Kh.), and the Cossacks of Cheremis and Chuvash."
The meeting with the Russian army took place near the village of Ityakovo, and on August 13 all regiments arrived in Sviyazhsk, where they were already awaiting ships with artillery and siege equipment and camped in the vast meadows around the city. The camp stretched all the way to the banks of the Volga.
A letter was sent to Kazan through envoys with an offer to surrender. Without waiting for an answer, Ivan IV ordered the crossing of the Volga to begin. On August 18, all military units were on the other side of the river; the Tsar’s regiment was the last to cross. Ertoul was sent ahead to put the roads washed out by the rains in order: ... and sent to Kazan to the river, and ordered many bridges to be paved, because then it would be rainy, and the waters in the rivers would be high.”
On August 20, after a difficult transition, the Russian regiments set up camp on Tsarev Meadow in sight of Kazan.
Siege of Kazan from August 20 to October 2, 1552
Kazan was well prepared for the siege. The Nogai prince Ediger, invited to the Kazan throne, took charge of the city's defense. The walls were hastily fortified and food supplies were collected. According to Andrei Kurbsky, the garrison consisted of 30 thousand local troops, 3 thousand Nogais, detachments of Cheremis (Mari), during the siege a certain coordination was achieved with the latter. The strategic plan for the defense of the city was based, as we will see later, on joint operations Kazan and Ar troops and raids by mounted detachments of the Mari. It was not passive defense that was planned, but major military operations.
Supporters of Moscow made an attempt to get into the location of the Russian troops, but were captured and executed, only Murza Kamay got out of the fortress and gave very important information about the situation of the city: ... and then Kamay-mur-za, Prince Usei’s son, came to serve the sovereign. and with him seven Cossacks; and he told the sovereign that about two hundred of them went to serve the sovereign and, having informed the Kazan people, they captured others. And about Kazan he told the sovereign: in the city, Tsar Ediger-Magmet established himself with evil advice from the Kazan people, but they do not want to beat the sovereign [...] and there are many reserves in the city; and their advice: they sent to the Arsk abatis [...], and ordered to gather all the people for the abatis.”
From the Royal Book we learn the most active participants in the defense of Kazan: Zoinesh, Prince Nogai, Prince Chapkun, Atalyk, Narykov, Kebek - Prince Tyumen, Prince Derbysh are mentioned. The role of the clergy is also highlighted, which, according to Kamaya, is famously brought to bear on the whole earth.” Thus, a difficult long-term siege of the fortress, well prepared for defense, was ahead, in conditions possibly rainy autumn and the coming winter.
As already mentioned, on August 20, Russian troops set up camp on the banks of the Volga, and a flotilla of ships with artillery arrived here.
The following preparatory measures by the Russian command before the siege of Kazan can be put forward.
1. A point has been identified - an approaching place”, from where it was planned to apply main blow, namely the lowland of lakes from the side of the Arskoe field, which had no natural boundaries. Depending on the attack site, the disposition of the regiments was drawn up, brought to the attention of all military leaders at the council on August 22, ... and sentenced: to the sovereign himself and Prince Volodymer Ondreevich in Tsarev Meadow, near Otucheva Mizgiti, and to Tsar Shigaley behind Bulakh under the cemetery, and go to the king in a large regiment; and on Arsk, a large regiment and the foremost and Prince Volodymerov Andreevich boyar and governor Prince Yuryo; and with his right hand for Kazania beyond the river, and many Cossacks with them; and the guard regiment of Naust-Bulak; and his left hand is above him.”
2. The procurement of materials for siege structures has begun:
And he ordered to send to all the regiments, so that in the whole army prepare a tour for 10 people, so that every person prepares a log for the tyn.”
3. An order was given to maintain the strictest discipline in the troops: ... may the Sovereign order ... without his royal order and in the regiments without the voivode’s order, no one would go to the city until the time is ripe.”
What was the size of the Russian army, how many siege weapons did it have? We do not have completely accurate information on this issue. Based on some data from Kurbsky about the size of the Right Hand regiment (18 thousand people), Ertoul (7 thousand people), prof. Afanasyev in his work approximately determines the size of the Russian army at 125 thousand people**. Regarding the number of siege weapons, Kurbsky gives only a few general information and an approximate figure that stayed in his memory: ...then they attracted great things, both medium and fiery, near the city and place, they were shooting upwards, and remembering, there were all like one and a half hundred, both great and medium ... " .
**Prof. Afanasyev in his dissertation “The Siege and Capture of Kazan in 1552.” According to E.A. Razin, the number of Russian troops in the Kazan campaign of 1552 was about 50,000 people (Razin E.A. History of military art. - T. II. Military art of the feudal period of war. - M., 1957, - P. 355) (K .R.).
Let us move on to a description of the military operations of the Russian and Tatar troops, using mainly the data from the Royal Book as the most detailed and accurate source.
THE FIRST MAIN OPERATION during the blockade of fortresses, according to the tactics of that time, consisted of surrounding the fortress with a close ring of troops. On August 23, Russian regiments with unfurled banners approached the city and began to occupy the points designated by the disposition (see map). Kurbsky notes the extraordinary, wary silence in the fortress: ...the city, with its breath, seemed like an empty place, and not a person, not a single human voice could be heard in it, as if many inexperienced people rejoiced about this and said that the king and everything had escaped the army into the forests, out of fear of the great army."
During the encirclement of the city, Kazan troops unexpectedly made a massive foray from the Arsk Gate. The first fierce battles began with great damage on both sides. But still, the Tatar troops had to retreat under the protection of the fortress.
THE SECOND MAIN OPERATION during the siege of the city consisted of constructing a siege line around it from heavy guns and defensive devices. The nature of the siege line is clearly outlined in the Royal Book; certain points are illustrated with drawings. On this basis, we are able to determine to some extent the methods of besieging fortresses, and in particular Kazan.
Protective devices for guns and warriors were built in the form of a continuous line of tour and tyn. Tours were cylindrical wicker baskets, they were attached to the ground with stakes and covered with earth. According to the research of engineer Laskovsky, large tours - "fighting" ones - had a height of up to 3 m, a diameter of up to 2 m, manual tours - a height of up to 2 m, a diameter of up to 1 m. Large tours were placed close to each other, leaving some space for the guns space-embrasures.” If the terrain did not allow placing tours, they built a tyn, that is, they drove a palisade of logs into the ground with a hole for the upper and lower battlements. Where there is no place for the tours to be, and the sovereign, having reconsidered the place, ordered his deacon Ivan Vyrodkov to place tyns between the tours.”
To strengthen the siege line against the passing towers, ledges were built from a continuous row of tours, which made it possible to carry out lateral shelling of the enemy in the event of forays. These ledges were called trenches, fortresses. I commanded the sovereign to build a large fortress against the Tsar’s Gate and Arsky, and Atalykov, and Tyumen.”
In front of the line, trenches were dug for the Cossacks and archers with archery and fire. Ivelyash as an archer and a Cossack dug into the ditches against the city.”
The siege line around Kazan was established for 5 days, 100 m from the fortress wall. The work began on August 25; it had to be carried out in the dead of night under continuous fire from the fortress walls, in fierce battles. Especially major battles took place on August 28, when mass forays from the fortress were supported by a raid by Epanchi’s troops from the Arsky fort. The Russian Poles held their positions, and from August 29 to 30 they managed to close the siege line.
THE THIRD MAIN EVENT during the blockade of the fortress was attempts to take over the water.” Through defectors, Russian Polonyaniks, it was established that the cache was located near the Murapeeva Tower. To destroy the reservoir, Ivan IV decided to use a tunnel and blow up the cache. The sovereign sent Alexei Adashev to the governors, and with him Rozmysl, and ordered that Kazan cache to be dug up; and ordered him to leave his disciples aside for that matter, and to take care of the big matter himself...”
The gallery was laid in the thickness of the loam from the Dair Bath and dug out in 10 days. On September 5, 11 barrels of gunpowder were deposited and the cache was blown up. Although in the Royal Book the start of work is indicated on September 30, this is apparently a copyist’s mistake and the start of laying the mine gallery should be considered August 25. The compiler of the Marching Journal describes in detail the progress of the work, illustrating them with drawings, and notes the impression that the unexpected terrible explosion made on the besieged.
Despite the dryness of the presentation, the picture is painted very bright. Kurbsky and Kazan Chronicler” only briefly touches on this major military engineering event during the siege of Kazan. In the Royal Book we read: ... and many in the city of Kazantsov stoned and blew up logs falling from a great height with potions. And the people in the city became dead from fear.”
Despite the enormous destruction, the Kazan people steadfastly continued their defense, erected new walls, dug wells, but the water in them was stinking,” according to the Royal Book: “...from the same water the disease was in that water, and the death of the king was swollen from it.”
On August 31, the construction of a mine gallery from the Dairovaya Banya to the Tyumen Gate began under the leadership of Razmysl. ...Otherwise, create a tunnel from the Bulak River, near the okolnichy near the Petrovs’ tour of Morozov, between the Atalykov Gate and the Tyumen Gate.”
Epanchi's cavalry raids from the Arsk forests hampered the development of siege operations. At the military council on August 30, before the explosion of the cache, it was decided to undertake a number of operations to secure the rear. On the same day, the first defeat of Epanchi’s detachments was carried out. The Russian cavalry took refuge in forested ravines along the Kazanka River, the regiment of Shestakov-Pronsky and Prince Gorbatov went into a deep detour from the direction of Kaban. When Epanchi's cavalry approached, the Russian units located on the Arsk field began to retreat, Russian cavalry attacked the Tatar detachments from the flanks, and Gorbaty's detachment approached from the rear. Epanchi's army was destroyed and many prisoners were captured. A letter was sent to the city with an offer to surrender: ... they will not give orders to beat them with their foreheads, and the sovereign of those alive who are caught alive (prisoners - O.Kh.) orders them to be beaten. The citizens did not answer... and the king brought them before the hail and ordered them to be beaten all.”
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Kurbsky presents this tragic moment - a brutal massacre in the spirit of the Middle Ages - somewhat differently, with his characteristic melodrama, which raises doubts about the plausibility of his message: . ..even when he brought these living ligatures to our king, then he commanded, having brought them out before the trenches, to tie them to a stake, and in the city they pray and remind their people: let the Kazan place be given over to the Christian king; [...] they, having listened to these words quietly, began to shoot from the city walls, not at ours, but at their own, saying: It is better, they say, to see you dead at the hands of our Busurmans, than for the Gaurs to flog you... .!
Hasty work to restore the Kremlin walls destroyed after the explosion of the cache, the search for water, and general confusion in the fortress allowed the Russian command to carry out a major strategic plan to provide the rear - a 35,000-strong detachment under the command of Gorbaty and Kurbsky took the Arsky fortress after stubborn resistance. The Tatar troops retreated to Arsk and surrendered it without a fight. Large supplies of food were captured, and many Russian prisoners were released. The return route of the Russian troops was peculiar - they walked wide stripe and small detachments, pens, destroying individual Tatar units.
The capture of the Kazan outpost - the Arsky fort - was of enormous importance, as it undermined the main plan for the defense of Kazan and allowed the Russian command to concentrate all its forces directly against Kazan. Further siege work was launched, and all means of attack known at that time were used. In particular, a three-tiered 12-meter oak tower, prepared in advance in the upper reaches of the Volga, was erected in one night. The Tsar ordered his diak Ivan Vyrodkov to erect a tower (tower - O.Kh.) at the Prince Mikhailovs' Vorotynsky tower, opposite Kazan's Tsar's Gate. And they placed the bashtu shti fathoms up and lifted a lot of them along with them, one-and-a-half squeaks and zatinny ones.”
An even more detailed description is given by Andrei Kurbsky: And besides, we have a great and lofty custom: in two weeks, it was chopped in secret, half a mile from the city, and on one night, near the city’s ditch, ten cases and fifty hooks were placed and fired upon. "
The figures given by Kurbsky are questionable, since it was hardly possible to install 10 heavy guns on one side facing the city, and to place in addition 50 archers with squeaks, which were also large.
But no matter how exaggerated Kurbsky’s figures were, the siege tower still made it possible to fire not only at the fortress walls, but also across the territory of the settlement, along White Lake, to which the entire population went for water.
The archers - many stood with arquebuses and fired into the city along the streets and at the hail walls and killed many people.”
Throughout September there was a stubborn struggle. Kazan residents restored the destroyed walls, built new taras that protected the road towers, and made unexpected forays. The compiler of the Camping Journal notes the great activity of the city’s defenders: ... because of the Taras, fighting all day and from holes, like snakes crawling out, and beating incessantly day and night.”
Throughout the siege, Russian troops were under attack by Mari troops. Prince Kurbsky writes: And the most bitter thing of all was their attack by that Christian regiment, even standing on the Arsk field, just like us, from the Galician roads, even from Lugovoye Cheremisy [...] And who would tell us the futility of people and they did it in the horse.”
A particularly large raid by the Mari troops took place four days after the capture of the Arsky fort: Soon after the return of this army, then, like four days later, quite a few Cheremis Lugovoi gathered, and attacked our rear camps, from the Galician roads, and quite a few herds of our horses defeated."
At the end of September Russian command began to carry out the next operation, practiced during the blockade of fortresses - began to build a siege line under the very fortress walls, since a general assault on the city was planned in the coming days. The Royal Book" very clearly notes the emergence of the 2nd siege line: ... the sovereign [...] commanded Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky to move a tour to their ditch against the Arsky tower (siege tower. - O.Kh.) and the Arsky gate to Taras against the Tsar's Gate [...]. The governors stood along the ditch opposite the Tsar’s Gate and the Arsky and Atalykov and Tyumen gates along the entire ditch and approved the tours.”
The Russian regiments were now at the very fortress walls under continuous shelling, sorties followed one after another.
The construction of the underground gallery to the Tyumen Gate was nearing completion. On September 30, it was planned to carry out the last operation before the assault - a partial capture of a section of the fortress walls in order to build a third siege line on them. At night, a tunnel was dug under the Taras of the Tsar's Gate, barrels of gunpowder were planted, and the gate was blown up. The regiment of Prince Vorotynsky burst into the settlement. The battle was evil and terrible,” says the chronicler, but still the archers managed to erect tours on the fortress walls in the area between the Tsarev and Arsky gates and cover them with earth. This is how the 3rd siege line arose.
The eastern part of the settlement was in the hands of Russian troops, but the tsar believed that the time had not yet come for a general assault on the city, since the tunneling to the fortress wall had not yet been completed. The troops received the order to retreat, and only on the fortress wall between the Tsarev and Arsky gates remained the Cossacks and archers who had fortified them.
A fire is raging in the city, wooden walls are burning, bridges are burning, but the people of Kazan continue to defend with amazing fortitude, renewing the destroyed walls, putting up more and more taras, and covering them with earth.
On October 1, the tunneling to the Tyumen Gate was completed, and the next day a general assault on the fortress was scheduled.
We walked all day preparatory work, ditches were filled with brushwood, bridges were built, stairs were prepared. Firing from battering guns was carried out continuously. In view of the upcoming difficult operation - the storming of Kazan - Ivan IV introduced the elective position of head in all regiments for one hundred fighters and ordered them to train their people in military affairs. At the beginning of the campaign, this innovation was carried out only in the Tsar's regiment.
Siege of Kazan (drawing by K. Artseupov) The entire strategic plan for the assault on the city was developed in detail and reported at the military council on October 1. This or that regiment had to storm the road gates exactly indicated in the disposition, and the attack was ordered to be carried out in the following order: in front were the archers, Cossacks and boyar children, then part of the regiment led by the second governor. The rest, led by the great governor, was, as it were, a reserve: ...av Kabatsky [Kaibitsky. - K.R.] gate to the governors of the advanced regiment: in advance to Prince Dmitry Ivano-vin Khilkov (second governor. - O.Kh.); and to help him the boyar Prince Ivan Ivanovich Pronsky (great governor - O.Kh.) [...]. And to the Elbugin Gate from the Kazan River to the voivode Prince Andrei Mikhailovich Kurbsky (second voivode - O.Kh.), and to help the boyar Prince Pyotr Mikhailovich Shchenyatev...”
This is a very characteristic distribution noted in the study of Prof. Afanasyev, is explained by the fact that the second voivode was usually appointed from among the most talented military leaders, and the big one was appointed on the basis of localism. Although the latter was abolished by the tsar in the 50s, apparently the old order still held.
The general reserve was the Tsar's regiment. In order to cut off the retreat path of the besieged, barrage detachments were to be deployed on the Nogai, Galitskaya, and Crimean roads (see plan).
A letter was sent to the fortress with an offer to surrender, but a decisive refusal was received. In the Royal Book we read: ...The people of Kazan decided with one voice in the city: “We don’t hit with our foreheads!” on the walls and in the bashi (towers. - O.Kh.) Rus', and we will put up another wall, but we will all die or sit out.”
The main part of the military operations during the siege of Kazan appears quite clearly in the presentation of the Royal Book.” However, the assault on the fortress itself is recorded too laconically. As for Kurbsky's Legends, in this part they are especially subjective, full of reports of unlikely episodes, and extremely confusing. It's hard to tell from them fighting Russian and Tatar troops. Only there. where Kurbsky talks about the storming of the Elbuga Gate, in which he personally took part, there are valuable details depicting both the attack and the defense.
The signal for the start of the assault should have been two explosions - one at the Tyumen Gate, the other at the Nogai Gate, where one night a small tunnel was made and barrels of gunpowder were laid. The explosion of part of the Kremlin wall was one of the important points of Ivan the Terrible’s strategic plan, so the general assault was delayed until the completion of mine-blasting work at the Tyumen Tower.
IN historical literature There are disagreements regarding the tunnels and their direction. Some researchers (Kanits, Zarinsky, Bogdanovsky, etc.) point to a tunnel from Poganoye Lake to the Arsky Gate. Indeed, not far from the Arsk Gate, closer to Kazanka, there was a lake called Poganoe, but there was no mine gallery on this side, since there are no corresponding instructions on this matter either in the Royal Book or in Kurbsky’s work. The only justification for the conclusion about the undermining from Poganoe Lake was the following remark of the Kazan chronicler: As if a hail undermining had already arrived. A tunnel has been prepared in two places, one tunnel under the wall from Poganov Lake, on the corner under the strelyshtsa, on the right side of the Arsky Gate - where the Spassky Gate is now called and the temple of the Holy Martyr Cyprian and Ustina was erected for them inside the city - and another tunnel on in the corner, under the rifle range, from the Bulak shooting range on the left country. “That was the Nogai Gate, but now it’s destroyed.”
But we have already noted the unknown writer’s poor knowledge of the military operations that unfolded around Kazan - he either completely keeps silent about some of them, or reports incorrect information, often using later Russian names, which forced researchers to draw incorrect conclusions and conclusions.
As for the number of tunnels, the latter is established quite accurately according to the Royal Book.” During the entire siege, only two mine galleries were built (to the hiding place and to the Tyumen Gate) and two small mines, completed in one night (at the Tsarev and Nogai Gates).
Foix Castle - a stronghold of inaccessibility Southern Pyrenees
Located in the Ariège department, the Château de Foix is one of the most interesting attractions of the Southern Pyrenees. This majestic citadel, rising on a rocky hill above the city of the same name, is included in the list of monuments by the French Ministry of Culture national importance. The three towers, the three main architectural elements of this castle, represent examples of the art of fortification from different periods. The two square towers belong to XII century, and the large round tower was built already in the 15th century.
Archaeological finds indicate that the caves in the rock of Foix, on which the current castle stands, were inhabited in prehistoric times. During the Merovingian era, there was a fortified fort on this site, which was later rebuilt into a castle in the 10th century, the first mention of which is found in a document dating back to 987.
In 1002, the castle appears in the will of Count Roger I of Carcassonne, in which he leaves the fortress in the care of his youngest son Bernard. Since the castle occupied an important strategic position, providing control over the Ariège River valley, it is no coincidence that in 1034 it was declared the capital of the county of Foix, and in the next two centuries it became the family home of the count of Foix.
The city of Foix is known throughout the Ariège as the capital of the Cathar movement.
At the beginning of the 13th century, a series of Albigensian wars broke out in the south of France, unleashed by the Catholic Church against the Cathars (supporters of the Christian religious movement, not recognized by Rome), to which the Counts of Foix belonged. Having declared the Cathars heretics, the highest Catholic clergy proclaimed a Crusade against them. For the crusaders, the start of the campaign was very successful.
They were quickly able to master many important fortresses the Cathars, including their main stronghold of Carcassone. After the fall of Carcassonne, a Catholic army led by Count Simon de Montfort besieged the castle of Foix twice in 1211 and 1212. For its time, the castle was practically impregnable, so Montfort failed to capture the fortress. As a result, the consequences of the Crusaders' invasion for the county of Foix were not as fatal as for their neighbors, the counts of Toulouse.
In the second half of the 14th century, during the reign of Count Gaston III Phoebus, construction of a large round tower began at the castle. Back then it was quite a complex and expensive job. Probably funds for this project were found by Gaston after he emerged victorious in an old internecine feud with the House of Armagnac. In December 1362, Gaston's army defeated the army of Count Jean II de'Armagnac at the Battle of Lonaka.
During the battle, Count Jean and other nobles were captured and imprisoned in the castle of Foix, where they were kept until they received a large ransom appointed by Gaston for their release. Without a doubt, part of this money went to construction works in the castles owned by the Counts of Foix, including the construction of a grandiose round tower, the construction of which was completed in the next century.
Only once in its history was Foix Castle taken by force of arms. This happened in 1486, during a military conflict between two branches of the de Foix family. But even in this case, there was betrayal. In general, starting from the 14th century, the Counts of Foix did not spend much time in the castle, preferring the more comfortable Governor’s Palace.
From 1479, the Counts of Foix became the rulers of Navarre, and later the Kings of France. In 1607, the last of the kings of Navarre, King Henry IV of France, included the territory of the county of Foix into the French kingdom. The castle continued to exist as a reliable defender of the region and a guarantor of the personal safety of the governor. This became especially relevant during the period Religious wars, when Foix became the only one of all the castles in the region that was not affected by the order of Cardinal Richelieu, ordering the destruction of other castles.
Count Gaston IV marries the daughter of King Juan II of Navarre, Eleanor, and his son inherits Navarre.
Foix is a city of a castle and an underground river. The city itself is very small and cozy. It is located near the Pyrenees, so it stands out from the usual tourist routes. On the main street and central square whole life is focused. There is a large parking lot nearby. The tourist office is also nearby. The old quarter of Foix is located on the banks of one of the rivers that merge into Foix...
Before the beginning Great Revolution, a military garrison was certainly present in the castle. At this time he was visited as governor by the following famous personalities as the captain of the royal musketeers de Treville (known to most as a character in the literary work of A. Dumas “The Three Musketeers”), and Marshal Philippe Henri de Segur, who also served as one of the ministers at the court of Louis XVI.
After the revolution, the castle began to be used exclusively as a prison, although in the Middle Ages many prisoners languished there. Having received the status of a departmental prison, the castle began to house not only convicts serving their sentences, but also people under investigation, as well as those detained for various offenses.
The function of a prison led to numerous architectural changes. New buildings were added to the castle to house the prison administration. Conditions for the prisoners were terrible, and in addition the prison was often overcrowded and in need of additional space. Therefore, as soon as the construction of a new prison in the city of Foix was completed in 1864, it was moved from the castle.
IN late XIX Thanks to the awakened interest in the medieval historical heritage in society, the castle was classified as historical monument, which made it possible to begin its restoration. Using the then-new restoration technique of the famous French architect and art critic Viollet-le-Duc, the restorers tried to return the castle to a look as close as possible to its medieval appearance.
The castle that appears to our eyes today is the wonderful result of this difficult and painstaking work. Since 1930, the castle has housed the museum of the Ariège department. The museum's exhibitions tell about various historical periods from ancient times to the late Middle Ages.
A pedestrian path leads up the hill to the castle, gradually rising above the roofs of the houses. It becomes noticeable in what a wonderful place the city was founded. The pointed peak in the center of the frame looks especially picturesque.
In addition, the orange tiled roofs of the houses give a certain charm to the city, contrasting with the low clouds...
Here the path leads us between the outer fortifications and the castle wall.
All three towers at Foix Castle are different from each other. The northern square tower is the oldest, although it looks newer.
The bench is unexpected... but it's nice to rest after a steep climb...
The metal door has been preserved...where to?!
The doors were installed when the fortress was repurposed as a prison in the 18th century. At the same time, the windows on the towers acquired bars. And on the walls there were images and inscriptions carved by prisoners. Although I don’t know who left this “rock painting”, which mentions some kind of battle in 1091, if I understand correctly. Perhaps we are talking about the capture of Normandy by King William the Red of England
Castle construction model
Prisoner cell
Little Museum
Spurs...poor horses...
« Notice no PA00093793 »base Mérimée, ministère français de la Culture
Florence Guillot, Foix, cité médiévale, Albi, Éditions Apa-Poux, 2003, p. 6.
Claudine Pailhès, L'Ariège des comtes et des cathares, Toulouse, 1992
Pierre Tucoo-Chala, Gaston Fébus, prince des Pyrénées (1331-1391), Anglet, edition Deucalion, 1993, p. 95.
Françoise Gales, Des fortifications et des hommes: l’œuvre des Foix-Béarn au xive siècle, Thèse de doctorat dactylographiée, UTM, 2000
Anne-Marie Albertin, Le château de Foix, Villefranche-de-Rouergues, 1994
Catalog Yvert et Tellier, Volume 1
The Masada fortress occupies the flat top of a free-standing small plateau, shaped like a diamond. From here you have a wonderful view of eastern part The Judean desert and the expanse sparkling under the sun Dead Sea.
The history of the Masada fortress
There is no exact information about the history of the Masada fortress. The Jewish historian and military leader Josephus (c. 37 - c. 100) wrote that the fortification owes its appearance to Jonathan the Hasmonean, who headed the fortification in 161 BC. e. Maccabean revolt. However, there is an assumption that Flavius had in mind Alexander Janna (125-76 BC), the Jewish king from the Hasmonean dynasty.
In 37-31 BC e. king of the Jews Herod I the Great (c. 73/74-4/1 BC) captured the fortress during the struggle for the throne. He gained fame as a great builder, and Masada underwent major restructuring during his reign. Fortifications were strengthened. In addition, at his order, two luxurious palaces, magnificent baths and aqueducts were erected here. The latter were extremely necessary, since water at the top was collected in reservoirs during short periods of precipitation. Herod had many enemies, and Masada seemed to him the best refuge, as it seemed absolutely impregnable. That is why Herod built a treasury here, where considerable reserves of royal gold were kept.
Defense of Masada
During the Jewish War of 6673 Masada became the last stronghold of the rebels against the tyranny of Rome. When the Romans came to Judea, they found Masada and left a small garrison in it, because to defend the fortress it was enough to just block a couple of paths that led to the top. In 66, at the very beginning of the uprising against Rome, a group of Sicarii (the most radical Jewish group of fighters against the Romans) managed to capture Masada, knocking out the weak Roman garrison.
The situation in the war with the Romans was not in favor of the Jews, and the last Sicarii found refuge in Masada after the destruction of the second temple in 70. The premises of the fortress were so extensive that a thousand Sicarii settled here, equipping a synagogue and a school.
The year 72 came, and Masada still remained the only island of freedom in Judea, which forced the Romans to send here the 10th legion under the command of the procurator Flavius Silva. The Romans built about a dozen camps around Masada, connecting them with a single rampart, which made it impossible to break the blockade.
However, the hope that the besieged would die of hunger and thirst was not justified: the Sicarii had plenty of food, and they received water thanks to an ingenious water supply system.
For several months, 5 thousand Romans and 10 thousand of their allies stood under the walls of Masada, until they decided to take the most difficult path: to build an embankment on the western slope. This was the only way to bring siege weapons to the walls, unable to throw stones and fire from the foot of the plateau to the top.
The mound was laid under the cover of arrows and stones. After seven months of siege, the Romans brought a siege tower along the embankment and from it they managed to set fire to the internal buildings in the fortress. Seeing the hopelessness of their situation, all the Sicarii, including women and children, chose to commit suicide rather than surrender.
Location of Masada
Masada Fortress is located on the southwestern shore of the Dead Sea. The fortress complex is located on top of one of the rocks, which is an isolated plateau on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert. There were once only two paths leading to the top of the plateau.
Not all the secrets of the Masada fortress have already been solved. Thus, some archaeologists are inclined to believe that there is no mass suicide There were never Jews in the fortress, and this story itself is just a folk legend.
Today, the Masada Fortress is the main site of the Masada National Park, which was included in the Masada National Park in 2001.
No exact information has been preserved about the history of Masada. Almost all that researchers have is a set of artifacts found in Masada.
Masada was not remembered for one and a half thousand years: strategic role she no longer had it, and only the most fanatical hermits could live on the top of the plateau.
Architectural and historical landmark
They started talking about Masada again in the first half of the 19th century, when the Anglo-American expedition reached it. The main excavations were carried out in 1963-1965. The most valuable find- 10 clay ostracon tablets with names, according to archaeologists, were used as lots when the defenders of Masada committed suicide: the last survivor had to set fire to the fortress before death.
Numerous structures were also discovered and excavated in the fortress, surrounded by a one and a half kilometer thick wall with towers. Among these buildings, of which only ruins remain, are palaces, a synagogue, armories and baths.
When reservoirs carved into the rock for collecting and storing rainwater were discovered, it became clear how the defenders of the fortress managed to collect and store clean, cold water for a long time.
The Jews built open plastered canals to drain rainwater from two canyons west of Masada into 12 drainage cisterns, carved in two parallel rows on the northwestern slope of the mountain (total capacity - about 40 thousand m2). From here, water was transported by hand to other cisterns on the mountain top, most of them underground.
An amazing fact: the mound made by the Romans has been preserved in excellent condition. Moreover, one can judge from it the ancient Roman siege technologies: the Romans poured alternate layers of stones and compacted earth, interspersing them with thick tree branches, which served as a kind of reinforcement and gave strength to the entire structure.
Among the ruins of the fortress, the remains of 25 men, women and children were found. In 1969, two years after Israel's victory in the Six-Day War, they were buried with military honors. Despite all these finds, direct archaeological evidence of the tragedy that occurred at Masada has not yet been discovered.
On the territory of Masada there are preserved ruins of a Byzantine monastery, known in archeology as the Lavra of Marda. It is known that there was once a church built here by the holy hieromonk Euthymius the Great (about 377-473), when Byzantium came here to replace Ancient Rome. After standing for about a century, it was destroyed, and in its place, in the second half of the 6th century, another church was built, of which only ruins remained. The Lavra briefly outlived the church and was also destroyed around the 7th century.
The Israeli city of Arad is closest to Masada, and the roads that lead from the city to Dead Sea, are a winding mountain serpentine - one of the most dangerous in the country. The city is still very young: it was founded in 1962 by natives of Israel and immigrants from Argentina, and today more than half of the city’s residents are immigrants from the countries of the former USSR, working in hotels at Dead Sea resorts.
Curious facts
- The rampart that connected all nine Roman camps during the siege of the Masada fortress was itself an outstanding architectural structure: its height was about 2 m and its length was 11 km.
- It was long believed that Jews did not build synagogues while they had the Temple in Jerusalem. The Masada fortress was completed during the Second Temple, but it already had its own synagogue, which proved that the ancient Jews built synagogues regardless of the existence of the Temple.
- Climbing to the top of the plateau in summer time usually starts an hour before sunrise to avoid the heat of the day, when the air temperature can rise to +43°C.
- There is a version that the word “masada” comes from the Aramaic word “ metsad", which means "fortified place".
- By decision of the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Moshe Dayan (1915-1981), in Israel, for some time, IDF soldiers took the oath within the walls of the ancient fortress of Masada, uttering the symbolic words of the oath “Masada will not fall again!” - This is a line from a poem by Israeli poet Isaac Lamdan. This ceremony has now been moved to Latrun, 30 km east of Tel Aviv.
- In 1981, Soviet émigré director Boris Sagal directed the four-part television series Masada. Filming took place at the scene of the events - at the foot of Masada. U western wall On the plateau there are several siege weapons of the ancient Romans - replicas (reconstructions) made by Hollywood masters for the filming of a film about Masada and left there as a gift to the citizens of Israel.
- Archaeologists who argue that Josephus gave an incorrect and possibly fictitious description of Masada cite as evidence the fact that the ancient historian named one palace at Masada, although in fact there were two. In addition, at the time of the capture of Masada, Josephus had already been in Rome for a long time.
- According to Josephus, only one old woman and a certain smart woman with five children, who hid when she went to draw water from an underground reservoir, were saved from death in Masada. It was she who told the Romans about what happened in Masada.
- One of the date seeds found during excavations at Masada sprouted in 2005, by 2008 the palm was already 1.2 m high, and is now over 2.5 m.
It is no coincidence that the futuristic outlines of this polar bunker are reminiscent of underground shelters from the game Fallout. The 360 website talks about the Global Repository - a scientific base in the Arctic ice that could become last hope humanity.
Wikipedia/Martyn Smith
In one of the coldest and beautiful places in the world, on the island of Spitsbergen in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, there is a mysterious structure that resembles the blade of a Scandinavian sword - narrow and straight, it seems to cut the surrounding permafrost in two.
The World Repository was built only 12 years ago, although the need for such a resource bank has been discussed for a long time - in our technological era, almost all devices are equipped with fuses, and our civilization also needs them.
mountain fortress
The Svalbard archipelago is washed by the waters of the Arctic Ocean. This outpost of Norway in the Arctic is considered its most remote and northern edge - beyond its borders the North Pole begins. The snow-covered expanses of Svalbard seem endless not only because of their enormous size - you rarely see buildings here, not to mention people. In the frozen island capital,
the city of Longyearbyen, lives about two thousand people, in the second largest settlement of the island, no more than 500 inhabitants - this is the Russian Barentsburg, which lies only 55 kilometers from Longyearbyen.
If, contrary to all arguments of logic and reason, a nuclear apocalypse breaks out in the world - near Svalbard great chances survive it without consequences. According to international treaties, its territory is considered a demilitarized zone: there are no important military installations here, and the rare populated areas are unlikely to be considered a worthy target for a missile strike.
Remoteness from the main centers of civilization is not the only reason why the Norwegians chose the Arctic island to create a fortified underground fortress: Earthquakes are extremely rare here, and the climate is ideal for the main task of the project - storing millions of seeds.
The “Doomsday Vault” was built to save the planet’s population from starvation in the event of any global catastrophe, be it a natural disaster, a man-made accident or the consequences of global warming. Created under the auspices
seed bank
The most secure and largest crop warehouse in the world.
a tunnel in the thickness of the rock. It leads inside giant safes that can hold up to 2.5 billion seeds. The temperature in safe rooms does not rise above -18 degrees. It is supported by heavy-duty freezing units, but if they fail, permafrost will “work” like a natural refrigerator. Together with limited oxygen availability, this will allow some seeds to maintain fertility for thousands of years. The builders even foresaw the possibility of a flood - if the worst forecasts come true and the melting of northern ice leads to an increase in the level of the world's oceans, it will still not approach the tunnel located high in the mountains for several centuries.
Noah's Ark 2.0 Airlock chambers, thick stone walls and permafrost - the Doomsday warehouse is better fortified than many military bases due to dire necessity. There are about 1,700 similar plant banks in the world, and some of them have already been seriously damaged due to human or natural disaster. Thus, during the hostilities in Afghanistan and Iraq, local storage facilities were completely destroyed, and the Philippine seed bank became unusable after the flood.
The Arctic fortress has already passed the first test - 2016 turned out to be one of the warmest years in history North Pole and heavy rains and melting snow were able to “pierce” the almost impenetrable first-level defenses, the Guardian newspaper wrote. As a result, part of the tunnel was flooded with water, which turned into ice. After this, the tunnel was strengthened by creating waterproof barriers inside it, drainage channels and special pumps for pumping out water. Members of the Norwegian organization NordGen, which manages the Svardbald repository, promise to monitor it “24 hours a day,” the newspaper notes.
GMO seeds
are not accepted for storage.
The Svalbard bunker operates as a central “backup” of existing seed storage systems. If everything goes as planned, it will be filled until it collects samples of all major plant species and becomes a reliable guarantor that humanity will feed itself even after the most terrible catastrophe.
Military everyday life
The first serious test awaited the fortress after 4 years. On August 19, 1496, the Swedish army, sailing across the Baltic Sea and Narova from Stockholm, under the leadership of Svante Stur, besieged Ivangorod. Seventy Swedish ships, loaded with firearms, positioned themselves along the Narova and opened cannonade. It is quite possible that the garrison could have repelled this onslaught. However, as has happened more than once in such cases, the fate of the defenders was decided by treason. The voivode and governor, Prince Yuri Babich, who was greatly impressed by the improved Swedish cannons, abandoned the fortress to the mercy of fate. Inappropriate composure was shown by the governors Ivan Bryukho and Gundorov, who were located not far from Ivangorod, with an army of two thousand, who did not provide any assistance to the besieged (the remnants of feudal princely strife were still in the air). It is not surprising that the success of the Swedes was predetermined and came with relatively little bloodshed: on August 26, after a seven-hour assault, the Swedes “took Ivangorod” and put its “people, husbands and wives and children to the sword.” This brutal massacre indicates that, despite their small numbers, the defenders of Ivangorod resisted stubbornly and thus aroused the anger of the invaders. There is nothing to say, fortresses are most easily taken from within...
Having received the news of the capture of the fortress, “the prince of Pskov left Pskov on the third day of the week, and the Pskov posadniks left with their howling army and from Pskov, on the 1st day of September, to the Gdov town,” located 70 versts from Ivangorod. Realizing that they could not resist the Russian force that would move towards Ivangorod, the Swedes already on August 29 began to destroy Ivangorod, having previously tried to sell the Russian fortress to the Livonian Order. When this attempt failed (I wonder how many times the Livonians subsequently recalled their refusal of the deal?), the Swedes sailed home, taking with them prisoners and other booty.
When restoring Ivangorod, the experience of the military conflict with the Swedes and, above all, the modest size of the fortress, which did not allow maintaining a substantial garrison here, were carefully taken into account. Restoration work began shortly after the retreat of the Swedish landing and was carried out very quickly; already on September 22, i.e., less than ten days after the arrival of the Russian army at the fortress, the Revel burgomaster and the ratmans were informed that “the Swedes, contrary to expectation, left Ivan-city, and the Russians had already begun with all their might to rebuild him,” and were informed that the Russians “are strengthening themselves more and more from day to day.
During the restoration, Ivangorod was significantly expanded: the Big Boyarshiy city of a rectangular shape was added to the “detinets”. The fortress of 25,000 square meters was defended by seven towers: Novaya Vorotnaya, Proviantskaya, Shirokaya, Novaya (Vodyanaya), Staraya Vorotnaya, Verkhnyaya and Nabatnaya.
The efforts of the authorities were not in vain. The new fortress became formidable force, which brought fear to the Livonians and Swedes. Her fighting qualities clearly manifested themselves at the moment when the Livonian Order, taking advantage of the involvement of the Russian state in the war with Lithuania, decided to openly fight. On September 13, 1502, the Livonians suddenly attacked the Russian fortress. However, they not only failed to take the fortress garrison by surprise; in the battle near its walls, the Livonians were completely defeated, as a result of which “many Germans were beaten and captured with their hands; and take the German banners.”
The victory of 1502 was very costly for the city settlement and the district, which was burned by the Livonians. In this regard, the residents of Ivangorod had to restore all the town buildings and damage that the fortress received during the siege. And again, the Moscow government did not limit itself only to repairing the Ivangorod fortifications, but also made long-term conclusions. In an effort to turn Ivangorod into a large trading center, it began work on the next expansion of its fortifications. In 1507, the fortress was expanded again under the leadership of masters Volodymer Torgkan and Marcus the Greek: a trapezoidal structure was added to it in the north-west, which was called the Castle in the chronicles. From now on, the fortress wall, together with two new towers - Porokhovaya and Kolodeznaya - ran along the very edge of the coastal cliff. For the purpose of safe access to water, a dansker was attached to the Well Tower, that is, a closed passage that led from the courtyard of the fort to the river water level.
Powder Tower after an engraving by A. Olearius (fragment).
Thanks to the creation of walls and towers in this part of the fortress, the territory of Ivangorod was not only expanded, but its defense capability was also increased. On the enemy’s side, where the Russian positions were separated from the Livonian castle by only a small space of the Narova, a powerful defensive line was formed, which included the wall of the Great Boyar City, the wall of the original square fortress of 1492 and the wall of the fortress built in 1507.
A significant increase in the scale of fortifications necessitated the growth of a permanent garrison capable of repelling external aggression. Therefore, along with the creation of the Big Boyar City, the Moscow government also began providing Ivangorod with the necessary composition of military service people. First of all, the backbone consisted of service people from the previously dissolved Novgorod courts. Owning the land allocated to the east of the fortress, which was a special type of feeding for them, and receiving a certain income from the peasants, they formed a permanent garrison of Ivangorod. Subsequently, this experience was extended to other fortresses of the northwestern borders.
As a result, in the fifteen years since its founding, the small fortress has turned into a large combat complex, built according to a regular plan and adapted to the latest changes in the development of artillery.
Each of the existing towers was a mini-fortress, reached a considerable height and had, depending on its combat value, certain number tiers. The river and the steep bank made the fortress inaccessible from the southwestern side; as a result, the coastal towers are low. The northeastern and southeastern towers were less protected by natural barriers and more accessible to direct assault. Facing a relatively flat area on which it was convenient for the enemy to deploy his forces, they were the main points of defense and therefore, unlike coastal towers, had a larger number of tiers. The Powder Tower of the Castle and the Long-Neck Tower of the Front City combined the features of both towers. The purpose of the Well Tower, equipped with a hiding place, was different.
The tiers of the towers were covered with vaults and communicated with each other through stairs located in the thickness of the tower walls. Some towers had open staircases adjacent to them. The towers, protruding beyond the walls of the fortress, were equipped with rows of loopholes directed to the sides possible appearance enemy, and along the walls. The passages connected the towers with the wall-mounted military passages and ensured circular movement along the walls of the fortress without descending to the ground and the possibility of interaction between the garrison of the towers and the defenders of the walls.
In two towers, the entrances from the walls were supplemented with special channels that blocked access to them. Occupying a commanding position in the fortress's defense system, the fortress towers also served as warehouses for food, military equipment and ammunition.
In parallel with the decision local tasks Russia, starting with Ivan the Third, gradually strengthened its power. Enlisting allies in case of war, the great princes did not forget to develop their own military forces. Moscow, centralizing supreme power in its hands, realized that the best remedy To maintain this power both in relation to internal rivals who did not put up with the spirit of autocracy - Novgorod and Pskov, and in relation to external enemies, was the establishment of a reliable army. With the strengthening of the Moscow princes, the people in their entirety cease to be an army. Instead of this conscription is done as a special matter for certain individuals, which has a beneficial effect on their organization. Instead of the previous system of maintaining troops at the expense of plundering enemy countries or the funds of civilians who are obliged to provide quarters and feed the soldiers, a system of arming and maintaining regiments at the expense of the treasury is being introduced. The formation of permanent streltsy regiments in the Moscow state, the prototype of which were the former “squeakers,” dates back to the time of Ivan the Terrible. Along the borders of their state, especially in the north and south, the Moscow princes placed sentinel people, allotted land, who, at the first approach of the enemy to the borders, had to immediately report this to Moscow. It is not surprising that the Livonians watched the strengthening of Russian statehood with fear.
In turn, Moscow had no special illusions about relations with its Baltic neighbors. Anticipating a war with Livonian Order for possession of the shores of the Baltic Sea, under Ivan the Terrible, active preparations for armed confrontation began. And, first of all, one should pay attention to the fortresses bordering Livonia. Ivangorod, separated only by the flow of the Narova River from the Livonian castle and placed face to face with the strong Narva, was a subject of special concern on the part of the Moscow government. Simultaneously with strengthening the fortress, Ivan the Terrible took measures to supply Ivangorod with a sufficient amount of military supplies, as well as strengthen the composition of the garrison located in it.
By this time, the Ivangorod fortress was the subject of attention from many foreigners, who, in their notes on travel to Moscow, noted with envy and some alarm the high fighting qualities of the Ivangorod stronghold. In addition, Ivangorod gave the impression of a magnificent architectural ensemble, boldly placed on the very border with Livonia.
The desire of foreigners to get acquainted with the Russian fortress and learn all its features was quite understandable. Created according to the latest fortification technology of its time, taking into account the natural military-strategic features of the area, the Ivangorod fortress ensemble was a first-class example of Russian defensive architecture. Being relatively small in size, it embodied the strength and confident determination of the Russian people, who, having taken the path of creating a centralized nation state, rightly asserted his historical rights to the return of the ancestral Russian lands on the Baltic coast and increasingly raised the question of access to the Baltic shores.
The entire second half of the 16th and early 17th centuries passed under the sign of continuous battles on the northwestern borders of the country. The beginning of a series of military clashes was the Livonian War, which began in 1558. The most important event dates back to this period: after the conquest of Narva by Russian troops, it was united with Ivangorod, and a bridge was built across Narva. Ivangorod thus became part of Narva, which began to be called Russian Narva. In the second half of the 16th century, the number of residents increased, the settlement grew, and a new St. Nicholas Church was built on the territory of the fortress by Novgorod craftsmen (people believed that in Livonian War Saint Nicholas gave the city of Narva to the Russians).
The fortress garrison numbered approximately 1,600 riflemen. The commercial port of Ivangorod in the 16th century brought annually about 50,000 rubles in income in the form of customs duties. In fact, Ivangorod has become the main center of Moscow's influence in the Baltic region. Being a powerful fortress on the northwestern border, at the same time it was one of the first Russian ports on the Baltic Sea, through which trade, political and cultural connections between Western Europe and Russia. It was then that Hubert Lange prophetically spoke: “If anyone’s power should be magnified in Europe, it will be Moscow.” But in practice everything turned out to be not so simple...
At first, the troops of Ivan the Terrible achieved impressive successes on the western borders
The successful military operations of Russian troops in Livonia (During May-October 1558, Russian troops captured 20 fortified cities) quite frightened other “interested parties.” As a result of the war, Livonia ceased to exist, but Lithuania, Poland and, especially, Sweden did not want to put up with the increasing influence of the Russian state. In November 1580, the Swedes took Korela, where 2 thousand Russians were exterminated, and in 1581 they occupied Narva, exterminating about 7 thousand civilians, then it was the turn of Ivangorod and Koporye. By the end of 1581, almost the entire coastline was in the hands of the Swedes. Gulf of Finland. The subsequent signing of a two-year truce cemented the concession to the Swedes of the Novgorod fortresses - Yama, Koporye and Ivangorod. By signing a truce for such a period, Russian politicians hoped that soon enough they would be able to return the Novgorod suburbs captured by the Swedes, and did not want to tie their hands.
Revenge was taken by the son of Ivan the Terrible, Fyodor Ivanovich, during the five-year war with the Swedes. First, the Yam fortress was recaptured, after which the main forces of the army rushed to Narova. Following the army, a convoy with siege artillery left Pskov.
Bas-relief by A. Passer depicting the Ivangorod fortress and the city of Narva, 1589
On January 30, 1590, a Swedish detachment attacked the Russian advanced regiment headed by governor Dmitry Khvorostinin that reached Ivangorod. However, the Russians repulsed the attack and turned the tide of the battle: it lasted almost half a day, after which the Swedes were defeated and fled from the battlefield, leaving all their guns and supplies. This success allowed the next task to begin: the siege of Narva. Experiencing great difficulties with the defense of the fortress, the Swedes began negotiations on a truce, which was signed for a period of one year. However, the Ivangorod fortress did not give rest to its opponents: having violated the truce, in November 1590 the Swedes tried to capture Ivangorod, but their attack was repulsed. Pursuing the fleeing Swedes, the Russians besieged Narva, but the siege was lifted by order from Moscow - the Russians returned to their original positions. Similar skirmishes took place until 1595 until the conclusion of the Tyavzin Peace, according to which Ivangorod, as part of other fortresses, was returned to Russia.
Regular victories made Voivode Dmitry Khvorostinin the most successful Russian commander of his time
As usual, after the next round of confrontation, the authorities drew conclusions regarding the reliability of the Ivangorod fortress. The last major transformation of the fortress dates back to the beginning of the 17th century. It consisted in its expansion due to the appearance of another extension of the fortress walls with towers, adjoining the Great Boyar City on the north-eastern side. This part was called the Front City. The forward city further increased the defense capability of the fortress from the sea. With its creation, the most vulnerable part of Ivangorod was strengthened - the spindle of the northeastern wall of the Big Boyar City between the Nabatnaya and Vorotnaya towers. Unlike other sections of the fortress walls, rising above rocky cliffs, in front of this ridge, before the construction of the Front City, there was a very gentle slope of the Maiden Mountain, along which the enemy could quite easily get to the city wall and gates. Upon completion of this stage, the fortress took on its final form, in which it existed until 1944.
Ivangorod fortress. Early 17th century
But before Russia could finally gain a foothold on the Narova line, it will still pass a whole century. Taking advantage hard time Polish intervention in Rus', the Swedes at the beginning of the 17th century invaded the Russian coast of the Gulf of Finland and besieged the Ivangorod fortress. This siege was a pre-arranged operation. Charles the Ninth, who sought to seize the lands of Northern Rus' and establish his influence in them, wanted to turn Ivangorod into an outpost of Swedish aggression in the East. Therefore, in November 1608, he ordered to capture Ivangorod and move deeper into Russia. However, the Swedes managed to capture the fortress only in 1613, after they captured the Neva basin, as well as the fortresses of Yam, Koporye, Karela, Oreshek, and Ladoga.
There are some details about the capture of Ivangorod in the notes of the Duke of Courland Lavrenty Miller. They say: “The castle opposite Narva is a fortress located on a great mountain. The Russians call this fortress Ivangorod, but the merchants call it Russian Narva. In Ivangorod there was a garrison consisting of 3 thousand Muscovites who did not want to surrender. Mister Pontus, having offered surrender, gave them three days to think, and after this period had passed, he directed his cartauns at the fortress and ordered them to fire a volley into the air over the fortress. The Muscovites knew well that the Grand Duke did not come to the aid of either Polotsk or Velikiye Luki, and would not come to Pskov either; without any doubt, they knew that the only thing that was important to them was Pskov; They could also see from the fortress how the Swedes treated the Muscovites in Narva, so they demanded negotiations again. When they were allowed a free exit from the fortress with everything that they could carry on themselves, they surrendered the very strong fortress of Ivangorod to Mr. Pontus. They left the fortress saddened, and when they had to pass between two rows of Swedish warriors, they did not look anyone in the eye, but looked at the sky and marked themselves, according to their custom, with a cross on their forehead, chest and both shoulders, bowed their heads to the ground and looked at the sky again.”
This is how the Ivangorod fortress changed from its foundation until the beginning of the 17th century. Lithographs. Museum of Fortresses
The significance of the captured territories was well understood by the successor of Charles the Ninth, the Swedish king Gustav Adolf, who sought dominance in the Baltic states. “The Neva and Narova,” he wrote, “can serve as gates for Swedish trade, which can easily be locked at any time for the Russians.” But if the Neva and Narova were the gates to the Baltic states, and Narva was the castle for these gates, then the Ivangorod fortress served as the key to the castle. It was precisely the return of Ivangorod to the Moscow state that the Swedish king was very afraid of. Giving “final instructions” to his commissioners appointed for negotiations with Russia in 1615, he emphasized that a reverse concession of Ivangorod to the Russians would be extremely undesirable for him, since “there can never be a better opportunity than now to end the danger, almost always existed near Narva." To do this, it was necessary to either permanently isolate the fortress from the Russian state or destroy it; and the Swedish king noted that he “in no case intends to give up Ivangorod, unless it is razed and never renewed, and the material of the walls is transferred to another place.” Fearing that in case of failure peace talks the destruction of Ivangorod would be unprofitable for him; Gustav Adolf pointed out that “before peace is concluded... there is no need to disrupt it.” The primordial right of the Russian people to the territories captured by the Swedes prevented the head of the Swedish state from giving the final order on the destruction of the Ivangorod fortress. He was well aware of this right when in the same instructions he wrote: “then the Russians would always have the right and reason to build and repair it again.” Therefore, Gustav-Adolphus “desired that the commissars firmly stand on retaining Ivangorod; but if this is impossible,” he pointed out, then it is necessary to “completely tear it down.” However, in order to wipe out an entire fortress from the face of the earth, it was necessary to have a sufficient amount of labor, and the royal chancellor Axel Oxenstierna suggested that the commissioners “persuade” ordinary people “to go to fortress work ... in Ivangorod.”
The next round of hostilities ended in 1617, with the mediation of English Ambassador John Merik signed the Treaty of Stolbovo, according to which Sweden received Ivangorod, Yama, Koporye and Oreshek with all their towns and villages. Mikhail Fedorovich gave these cities to Sweden, promising not to conquer them anymore for himself and his heirs “and then the future great sovereigns, tsars and grand dukes of the Russian kingdom.” Novgorod, Staraya Russa, Porkhov, Ladoga and Gdov remained with the Russians.
Ratification of the Swedish king Gustav Adolf to the Stolbovo Treaty of Perpetual Peace between Russia and Sweden, which cut off Russia from the Baltic
The Swedish king was happy about the conclusion of peace, which he expressed in his speech at the Diet of the same 1617. “God has shown a great blessing to Sweden,” he said, “in that the Russians, with whom we have lived in an uncertain state and in a dangerous situation since ancient times, must now forever leave the nest of robbers from which they previously so often disturbed us. Russians are dangerous neighbors; the borders of their land extend to the North, Caspian and Black Seas; they have a powerful nobility, a large peasantry, populous cities; they can put a large army in the field. And now this enemy cannot lower a single ship into the Baltic Sea without our permission. Large lakes - Ladoga and Peipus, Narva region, thirty miles of vast swamps and strong fortresses separate us from it. The sea has been taken away from Russia, and, God willing, now it will be difficult for the Russians to jump over this stream.” Time has shown that the Swedish king was only partly right; the task of reaching the Baltic shores took a whole century, but was still solved...
Another correct thought was expressed by the Russian commissioner at the negotiations with the Swedes, Ordyn-Nashchokin: “There is no profit from Ivangorod; Narva is better than it, and it is now deserted, because trading from Novgorod is poor, and their Swedish merchants are from the sea, and ships do not go to Ivangorod. When Ivangorod was in Russian possession, there were constant quarrels and bloodshed across the Narova River with the city of Narva; it is impossible to be at peace if these two cities are not under the same sovereign.” These words became the guiding star of Peter the Great, one of whose most important achievements was providing Russia with access to the Baltic.
Peter the Great - the main architect of Russian victories in the Northern War
This task seemed so important to Peter that he hastened to make peace with Turkey, with whom he was then at war, and came with his army to the former Novgorod lands(now Ingermanland). He, like the previous Russian sovereigns, realized that Russia needed to take a firm foot on the Baltic Sea in order to forever break the power of the Swedes.
In a row Swedish fortresses First of all, for this purpose it was necessary to take possession of Narva, because of which a lot of blood had already been shed, and which the Swedes, having conquered from Ivan the Terrible, stubbornly retained. After a series of failures, Peter managed to fulfill the ancient cherished desire of the Russians: he made his way to the sea and finally expanded Russia to its natural borders. It is noteworthy that the Narva fortress was taken first, while the garrison of Ivangorod continued to resist. The commandant of Ivangorod, Lieutenant Colonel Stirnstral, did not surrender for a long time, probably counting on reinforcements. Finally, he had to give in, but he persuaded the garrison the right to freely leave the fortress with arms in hand. His request for permission to perform with unfurled banners and music was rejected.
A. E. Kotzebue, Capture of Narva
There is the following contemporary eyewitness account of the negotiations with Stirnstrhal and the subsequent surrender of Ivangorod:
“After the storming of Narva, on the same day in the evening, Russian Colonel Ritter appeared on the Ivangorod wall demanding surrender without any conditions. He was asked to wait until the commandant was found; Finally they announced that the commandant was in Narva, and it was unknown whether he was alive or dead. The fact is that Stirnstrhal wanted to gain time to prepare for a repulse, although there were no more than 200 people under arms. After Ritter, another Colonel Arnstedt appeared, with a written order from Major General Horn to submit unconditionally. The commandant replied that the Horn was in the hands of the enemy, therefore his orders were powerless; he decided to defend himself with his garrison to the last drop of blood. The king was very angry with this answer and sent Arnstedt a second time to announce that if his will was not immediately fulfilled, all prisoners in Narva would be put to death without mercy for babies in the mother's womb. “It is in the will of the sovereign to do whatever he wants,” answered Stirnstral, “but I consider it a shame to give up the fortress entrusted to me by the king at the first request. If fair conditions are offered, then perhaps the royal wish will come true. After that, Field Marshal Ogilviy let it be known that it was surprising to him how one could be stubborn with a hungry garrison and that there was still time to take advantage of the royal favor; As a result, they asked on what terms the commandant was thinking of surrendering the fortress, and they demanded to send 3 officers for the treaty, agreeing, for their part, to send the same number as hostages to Ivangorod. Stirnstral, with tears in his eyes, asked his people: what to do? Everyone answered unanimously: submit, otherwise the garrison will die of hunger, having no more than 5 measures of bread. On August 15 they wanted to enter into negotiations, but the Russians were busy celebrating the capture of Narva... The next day, 3 officers were sent to Narva for negotiations; The Russians sent 3 captains from their side. The commandant demanded the consent of the entire Ivangorod garrison to retire to Revel with their wives and children and leave the fortress with banners flying, with music, with weapons in their hands and 4 field guns. The field marshal agreed to the free removal of the garrison; He refused guns, music and banners. On August 16, at 9 a.m. (Swedish style - August 17), the Russians entered Ivan Gorod; and the garrison, partly on ships, partly by land, went to Revel and Vyborg.”
The complete collection of laws contains the points of surrender proposed by Stirnstral (Stierne Strahl) with the response of Field Marshal Ogilvius (dated August 16, 1704).
The Swedish proposal was as follows.
By the grace of God the most powerful king Charles XII, King of the Goths and Vandals (and so on) a certain lieutenant colonel and commandant of the fortress of Ivangorod Magnus Stierne Stral, at the suggestion of God, by the grace of God, the Most Serene and Most Powerful Great Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich of All Russia, the autocrat, and so on. Field Marshal Colonel of the Infantry Regiment and Commanding General of the noble gentleman, Baron Georg Venedikt Ogilviy, according to the strength of his letter dated August 13, 1704, in the discussion of the fortress of Ivangorod, intends to commit this surrender, he decided to put the following agreed points:
1. I demand an honest vacation for myself and for all the officers, artillery servants and soldiers of the fortress located here in such a way that they can go out with unfurled banners, with military music, with 4 cannons, with upper and lower weapons for both healthy and and for the sick, without any change, with proper ammunition, that is, with 12 charges and bullets in the mouth.
2. So that both mine and all the chief and non-commissioned officers' wives, as well as soldiers' wives and children, with all their belongings, without excluding anything, could be freely and unhinderedly released and freely depart.
3. The same freedom is required for each and everyone who is here in the fortress, men and women, no matter what their condition.
4. It is required for the entire garrison, together with all the sick, wounded and prisoners, for the above-mentioned guns, for my own luggage, and also for each and everyone, no matter what their condition, the necessary ships, on which it would be possible to immediately and without losing time, arrive safely in Revel with passports and the escort of His Great Royal Majesty.
5. So that all the officers and citizens who are here, whose wives and children are in Narva, are allowed to take them from Narva, and so that, on the contrary, those wives who are here and whose husbands in Narva can go to them.
6. I demand that all officers and soldiers and everyone else and everyone, no matter what their condition, can take with them the necessary provisions for a month.
7. So that both I and the officers and everyone else, no matter what their condition, who remained in Narva could receive their things from there.
8. If Almighty God wanted this fortress to once again pass into the possession of my most merciful king, then I grant myself that it, of course, be returned in the same condition as now with all the things in it. Finally, just as I intend to contain everything that will be concluded and decided between us sincerely and without treachery, I hope that on the other side everything will be observed sincerely and on the word of honor.
To this proposal of Stirnstrhal, Ogilvius replied: For the sake of his great royal majesty victorious troops not only the entire city of Narva, but also the forge of Ivan-Gorod was taken by storm, and therefore it is unnecessary to destroy the standing old wall of Ivan-Gorod without protection in a few days to the ground, rendering the weak garrison unable to defend itself any longer; then, according to military law, nothing more can be allowed and nothing more can be agreed upon than 1 article, so that the entire garrison leaves Ivan-Gorod in order, without banners and without music, also without naked swords, but with upper and lower weapons, and that all artillery servants and the army should be given proper release. The second, as well as the third points are completely permitted. To 4th point. The demanded removal of some guns is completely refused, moreover, all of these prisoners must be released; everything else, together with points 5 and 6, is completely permitted. On point 7. It is known that due to the assault, everything should go to the army as spoils. If any furniture or clothing were found, then His Great Royal Majesty, by his most merciful generosity, would be inclined to agree to this request. The eighth point is left to Almighty God and His will.
Upon completion and comparison of these points of the agreement, they must main gate to be immediately opened this evening between 5 and 6 o'clock, and the garrison of His Great Royal Majesty was admitted without further disgust. As evidence and further confirmation of the aforementioned clauses of the contract, two conflicting copies were drawn up and mutually exchanged, everything was done correctly and without resistance.”
On August 16, Ivangorod was occupied by Russian troops. An important stage of the global task has been completed. In 1708 according to the new administrative division Ivangorod became part of the Ingermanland province, which in 1710 was renamed the St. Petersburg province. In 1718, 4,000 people lived in Narva, Ivangorod and their suburbs, including more than 1,400 people in garrisons.
Gradually, the military and defensive significance of the northwestern fortresses faded away. In 1863, by imperial command, the Narva fortress was abolished, the fortress villages were transferred to the city, and the ancient walls of Ivangorod, the Livonian castle and Vyshgorod, as monuments of antiquity, were entrusted to the care of the military department. Shortly before this, the inner surface of the battery walls and the planes of its loopholes were re-lined. A year before this, the destroyed part of the battery at the point where it adjoined the cache was also restored.
Unfortunately, the Ivangorod fortress has not been completely preserved to this day in its original form; it was blown up during the retreat German troops. Unterscharführer of the 3rd Panzer Corps Langevich, who was captured by Soviet intelligence officers during the decisive offensive in September-October 1944, spoke about this in more detail. In his testimony on November 4, 1944, Langevich wrote: “Even in the winter, when we were in Narva, the order came from the commander of the 32nd sapper unit, subordinate to the army group "Narva", Lieutenant Colonel Scheunemann, to blow up the Ivangorod fortress. The commander of the engineer unit of the SS Corps, Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Schöffer, was responsible for this. The destruction was carried out over several days, and several tons of dynamite were used (for each tower about 3000 kg)."
As a result of these destructions, the monument lost six towers, one hiding place, large sections of the fortress walls, and some details and fragments. He also lost his internal buildings, which were also destroyed. Despite the fact that more than 70 years have passed since then, some of the fortress walls have still not been restored.
To this day, some of the fortress walls and internal structures have not been restored after the destruction.
The new tower, cache and caponier are still very far from their original condition
Today, tourists come to the banks of the Narova to admire an amazing sight: two fortresses standing close to each other along the banks of the river. Two fortresses, so different from each other: the compact Russian regular Ivangorod fortress, freely spread out on the mountain, and the medieval knight's castle with a high dominant, locked in cramped conditions. They say that nowhere in the world are two such different fortresses so close to each other. A concentrated confrontation between the West and the East, which makes it possible to evaluate the difference in military engineering and architectural and artistic qualities. A place that has become a living chronicle of the struggle of the Russian ethnic group for survival, which is definitely worth visiting for everyone who is not indifferent to the history of our country.
Narva Castle led by “Big Herman”
Panorama of the Ivangorod Fortress
The following materials were used when writing this article:
Novgorod and Pskov chronicles
Census register book of Shelonskaya Pyatina
A. Olearius, Travel to Muscovy and Persia in 1633, 1636 and 1639.
A. V. Petrov. The city of Narva, its past and attractions in connection with the history of consolidating Russian dominance on the Baltic coast.
I. Kurchavov. Liberation of Soviet Estonia
V.V. Kostochkin Fortress Ivangorod
A.N. Kirpichnikov Ivangorod