Priozersk

(before 1948, Keksgol’m), a city under oblast jurisdiction, administrative center of Priozersk Raion, Leningrad Oblast, RSFSR. Located on the western shore of Lake Ladoga, where the northern branch of the Vuoksa River flows into the lake. Railroad station 142 km north of Leningrad. Population, 17,000 (1974).

The first written mention of the ancient Russian city of Priozersk was in 1295. The Korela Fortress (Staraia Fortress) was erected in the early 14th century on the island between the two branches of the Vuoksa River. Priozersk was under Swedish control from 1581 to 1595 and from 1611 to 1710. The Novaia Fortress (remnants of which include the fortress gates and a large part of the ravelin at the southern wall) was built to the north of the Staraia Fortress in the 17th century. Priozersk was captured in September 1710 by the army of Peter I and was returned to Russia. The Staraia Fortress was used as a place for exiles in the 18th century and later. The city was part of bourgeois Finland from 1918 to 1940 and became a city in Leningrad Oblast in March 1940. The Staraia Fortress is an outstanding example of the early Russian art of fortification and presently serves as a museum. Priozersk has a cellulose factory and the Ladoga Furniture Complex. A house of rest is located in the city.