On August 24, a postal block dedicated to the 700th Anniversary of the Oreshek Fortress was put into postal circulation

The Oreshek Fortress is an Old Russian fortification located on Orekhovy Island at the source of the Neva River, opposite the town of Shlisselburg in the Leningrad Region. Prince Yuri Danilovich, a grandson of Alexander Nevsky, built it in 1323 to protect Lake Ladoga from the Swedes.

There are five towers along the perimeter of the fortress walls. One of them, the Gosudareva (Monarchic) Tower (the Gate Tower prior to the 18th century) is quadrangular, the rest of the towers are circular. The strategic arrangement of loopholes was plotted with due regard to the uniformity of fire; each tower had ventilation holes, ammunition feed windows and easily barricaded entrances.

Inside the fort, in its northeastern part, there stands high a citadel: a castle inside the fortress, which is circumferentially protected by three more towers and a 12-meter deep moat. It was used to store weapons and food.

Today, the Oreshek Fortress is one of the few remaining ancient fortifications, a major monument of architecture and history of federal significance. It is a branch of the State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg.

The postal block presents an image of the Oreshek Fortress.

In addition to the issue of the postal block, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow and St. Petersburg as well as an illustrated cover for the second emission type: with serigraphic varnish and bronze paste.

Design Artist: S. Ulyanovsky.
Face value: 100 rubles.
Block size: 110×70 mm, stamp size in the block: 42×30 mm.
Quantity: 21 thousand blocks (the first emission type); 4.2 thousand blocks (the second emission type*).
*To be on sale as part of an illustrated cover.

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