Where the Neva leaves Lake Ladoga there is a small island in the current, and for seven centuries whoever held it controlled the river and the trade route to the Baltic. The Novgorodians built the first wooden fort here in 1323 and called it Oreshek, the Little Nut, because of the island's shape. The Swedes took it in 1611 and renamed it Nöteborg, and in 1702 Peter the Great stormed it, and renamed it Schlüsselburg, the Key Fortress. The old stone walls and towers stand now on a low island reached by a short boat ride from the town, which is now called Shlisselburg.
Over the following centuries the fortress became a prison for political enemies of the tsars. Decembrists were held here, and in 1887 Alexander Ulyanov, Lenin's older brother, was executed within its walls for his part in a plot against the tsar. In September 1941 the Germans took the town and cut Leningrad's last land link, yet the small Soviet garrison on the island fortress is remembered for holding out, and the siege was first broken in January 1943 on this very stretch of the Neva. It is a battered, quiet place today, and the red brick under the grey sky has a bleak, honest beauty.
The ride here is a long, flat run east from Saint Petersburg along the Neva, across country of birch, pine and bog, with small settlements and the odd industrial town. The road is busy on weekends but has a decent surface, and the river appears now and then through the trees, broad and slow. In summer the light holds until late, and boats cross to the island regularly. In winter the ice on the river changes everything and the island becomes a stage set.
Shlisselburg has about twelve thousand people and has fuel, shops and cafes, as does the neighbouring Imeni Morozova. Allow an hour or two for the island, and bring a windproof layer, because the river wind is sharp. As elsewhere in Russia, the rules for foreign visitors and vehicles are not what they were, so check before you plan. The Neva view from the pier is the best part of the trip.