Vyborg CastleVyborg Castle (Выборгский замок; Viipurin linna; Viborgs slott) is a fortress in Vyborg, Russia. It was built by the Swedes during the Middle Ages around which the town of Vyborg evolved. The castle became the stronghold of the Swedish realm in the Karelian region. Throughout the centuries, it was the first defence of the kingdom against the Russians. Its military and strategic status in the late Middle Ages was second only to the fortified capital Stockholm. Currently it serves as the site of Vyborg Regional Museum.
Vsevolozhsky DistrictVsevolozhsky District (Все́воложский райо́н) is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the seventeen in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the central northwestern part of the oblast on the Karelian Isthmus and borders with Priozersky District in the north, Kirovsky District in the south, Vyborgsky District in the northwest, Nevsky, Krasnogvardeysky, Kalininsky, Vyborgsky, and Kurortny Districts of the federal city of St. Petersburg in the west, and is washed by Lake Ladoga in the east.
IvangorodIvangorod (Иванго́род; Jaanilinn; Jaanilidna) is a town in Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the east bank of the Narva river which flows along the Estonia–Russia international border, west of St. Petersburg. The town's population was recorded as Ivangorod is a major border crossing point and a railway station by the Tallinn–St. Petersburg line. It is located just opposite to the Estonian town of Narva. The town is the site of the Ivangorod Fortress, a prominent fortification monument of the 15th and the 16th centuries.
KirishiKirishi (Ки́риши, ˈkjirjɪʂɨ) is a town and the administrative center of Kirishsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volkhov River, southeast of St. Petersburg. Population: It was previously known as Soltsy (until 1931). The name of the town originates from the Kirisha River (previously known as Kiresha), a tributary of the Volkhov River. It was first mentioned in 1693. Since 1727, it was a part of Novoladozhsky Uyezd of Novgorod Governorate, later of St. Petersburg Governorate.
GoglandGogland or Hogland (Гогланд, transliteration from original Hogland; Suursaari) is an island in the Gulf of Finland in the eastern Baltic Sea, about 180 km west from Saint Petersburg and 35 km from the coast of Finland (near Kotka). Hogland has an area of approximately ; its highest point is . It belongs to Russia's Kingiseppsky District in the Leningrad Oblast. Gogland's tourist industry is growing in importance, with most tourists coming from St. Petersburg, and some from Finland.
MgaMga (Мга) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Kirovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. Population: The name is almost certainly derived from the identically named Mga River on which it lies (which in turn is probably of Finno-Ugric origin); the suggestion that it comes from the initials of the owner of the land in the 19th century, Maria Grigorievna Apraksin (a member of the same family for which the Apraksin Dvor in St. Petersburg is named), is extremely unlikely.
RopshaRopsha (Ропша) is a settlement in Lomonosovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated about south of Peterhof and south-west of central Saint Petersburg, at an elevation of to . The palace and park ensemble of Ropsha are included in the UNESCO World Heritage list as a constituent of Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments. The settlement was first mentioned in the documents of the Novgorod Republic in the 15th century, when its name was spelled as "Khrapsha".
GatchinaGatchina (Га́тчина, ˈɡatːɕɪnə) is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway which links Saint Petersburg and Pskov. Population: It was previously known as Khotchino, Gatchina (until February 14, 1923), Trotsk (until August 2, 1929), and Krasnogvardeysk (until January 28, 1944). Gatchina, the largest town in Leningrad Oblast, is best known as the location of the Great Gatchina Palace, one of the main residences of the Russian Imperial Family during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Lake SukhodolskoyeLake Sukhodolskoye (Суходольское озеро; Suvanto-järvi ) is a narrow 40 km long lake on the Karelian Isthmus located in Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is a part of the Vuoksi River basin, constituting its southern armlet, and drained by Burnaya River. Originally waters of the lake flowed into the Vuoksi through a waterway at Kiviniemi. However, in 1818 the channel that had been dug to drain spring flood waters from the lake into Lake Ladoga unexpectedly turned into Taipaleenjoki (Burnaya River), which started draining the lake itself and decreased its level by 7 m.
Religion in RussiaReligion in Russia is diverse, with Christianity, especially Russian Orthodoxy, being the most widely professed faith, but with significant minorities of non-religious people and adherents of other faiths. A 1997 law on religion recognises the right to freedom of conscience and creed to all the citizenry, the spiritual contribution of Orthodox Christianity to the history of Russia, and respect to "Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism and other religions and creeds which constitute an inseparable part of the historical heritage of Russia's peoples", including ethnic religions or paganism, either preserved, or revived.
