Korela Fortress
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Korela Fortress in Russian or Käkisalmen linna in Finnish or Keksholms fästning in Swedish, at the town of Priozersk (in Finnish Käkisalmi), was founded by the Karelians who named the place Käkisalmi. Novogorodian chronicles refer to it as Korela.
It was first mentioned in a Novgorodian chronicle of 1143 and archeological digs have revealed a layer belonging to the 12th century. Swedish chronicles first reported of the settlement of Korela (Keksholm in Swedish) in 1294.
Soon after their seizure of Korela in 1580, the Swedes rebuilt the fortress following a Western European pattern of bastion fortifications. During the Time of Troubles, Korela was a prize promised by Vasily IV of Russia to Jacob De la Gardie for helping him fight the Poles. As a result, the fortress remained with Sweden for 100 years, until Peter the Great recaptured it during the Great Northern War.
In the mid-18th century, the fortress was turned into a political prison of Imperial Russia. Some participants of the Decembrist Revolt (1825) were confined here.
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| Fortresses of Western Russia |  |
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Gdov | Ivangorod | Izborsk | Kirillov | Koporye | Korela | Kronstadt | Ladoga | New Dvina Fort | Novgorod | Oreshek | Porkhov | Pskov | Smolensk | Solovki | St Petersburg | Trångsund | Vyborg | Yamburg |
