History of Saint-Petersburg: Exhibition "Landskrona, Nyenschantz, Petersburg: Archeological Discoveries at the Okhta Cape" presented in the State Hermitage Museum

An exhibition spotlighting the three main stages of the development of the Okhta Cape was opened in the Manege of the Small Hermitage (Saint-Petersburg). It tells about the periods of the Swedish fortresses Landskrona and Nyenschantz, as well as the Okhta Cape as the outskirts of Saint-Petersburg.

The exposition features 167 items - archaeological finds that entered the State Hermitage Museum in 2016, plans and photographs of objects discovered on the Okhta Cape that should be conserved in future. The Research Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage provided graphic materials - drawings and illustrations.

The Landskrona fortress was founded by the Swedes in 1300. A year later, in 1301, it was destroyed by Russian troops headed by the Novgorod and Grand Prince of Vladimir Andrei Alexandrovich, the son of Prince Alexander Nevsky. Numerous items related to the time of ceasing the fortress were found in the ditches. These are the arrows, spearheads and darts preserved in a wooden siding. On the slope of the ditch, the archaeologists found a four-pointed stone pectoral cross with silver gilded tips. Most likely, it belonged to a Russian noble participant in the fortress assault - a boyar or a prince.

The second kind of items is wooden pieces found in the filling of a log house in the western part of the fortress (the "cellar", which was the site of the last defence of the Swedes). Probably, before the assault, it was used as a warehouse; its lower part had a well. Here were found fragments of barrels, shovels, wheels - the probable parts of a water raising mechanism.

After the destruction of the Landskrona fortress, the Neva lands remained in the possession of Veliky Novgorod, and later of Moscow. After 1617, according to the Treaty of Stolbovo, Sweden gained part of Karelia and the province of Ingria. In 1611, a new fortress was built on the territory occupied by the Swedes. It was named Nyenschantz ("The fortification on the Neva'' in Swedish). It existed until 1703. Items found during the excavations of Nyenschantz are mostly imported. They belong to the culture of the Northern European cities and are very rare in Russia. Most of the finds are fragments of dishes. Also, there were numerous pieces of tiles, including those with plot images. Ceramic smoking pipes were a necessary attribute of the European city of the XVII century. The city life is also illustrated by coins, including an unusual square example. Two objects are of particular value. They are iron door butts from the gate of the secret way and the wicket in the moat of the Nyenschantz fortress.

During the Northern War (1700-1721), on May 1, 1703, the Nyenschantz fortress surrendered to the Russian troops after a short siege. On May 16, 1703 (according to the old style), Saint-Petersburg was founded on Hare Island. The fragments of weapons and ammunition found during excavations vividly illustrate the events of the Nyenschantz siege. After a massive artillery bombardment, numerous parts of mortar and cannon bombs remained in the fortress moats. Fragments of grenades, a sword hilt and a rifle lock could occur in the ground after an unsuccessful attempt to assail the fortress on April 29, 1703.

In the XVIII century, the site of the destroyed fortress was hosted by a garden, which produced seedlings for Saint-Petersburg parks. The exhibition features a fragment of a garden vase for growing seedlings.

Nyenschantz moats were filled in during the levelling of the cape's territory for the shipyard's construction at the beginning of the XIX century. These earthworks demanded a large amount of soil, which holds various objects related to the city life of the XVIII century. There are painted tableware (plates and mugs), black-glazed jugs, pots, and pieces of a washstand. The festive illumination engaged ceramic light bowls, which were filled with oil and the wick. The ceramic figurines of soldiers of the XVIII-XIX centuries are rather attractive. Metal tools illustrate the craft of the workshops in the suburb of Saint-Petersburg.

The cape at the junction of the Okhta and the Neva is a specific place in Saint-Petersburg, which lost its status but witnessed turbulent historical events long before the city's foundation. The exhibition about the Okhta Cape is another reason to draw attention to the issues of preserving this significant place for the city.