Lebyazh’ye, Russia

History

Lebyazhye was first mentioned in 1500 as Karkila. A variant of the current name first appears in 1504/1505 in reference to the nearby Lebyazhya river, likely being a translation of an original Ingrian Joutsenoja, with joutsen and лебедь both meaning "swan". The name Joutsenoja is attested in Swedish sources (Joutzen oia) since 1616 as a village name. The Finnish name Lepäsi comes from the Russian name, and was used by the Ingrian Finns.

The area was conquered by Peter the Great in the early 18th century and was given by the Tsar to Boris Sheremetev. The Sheremetev family built a manor house here in the 18th century. After the Sheremetevs, the estate was known as Lebyazhye. In 1864, the railway was open, and in the 1860s, Lebyazhye started to specialize as a settlement for maritime pilots who brought the ships to Saint Petersburg. In the beginning of the 20th century, Lebyazhye was a popular summer holiday destination. Among notable people who owned houses there were Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, an author, Valentin Bianki, a biologist, and Vitaly Bianki, his son and a future author.

Krasnaya Gorka fort was constructed at the beginning of the 20th century on the coast near the settlement. The fort played a key part in the Siege of Leningrad as the center of the Oranienbaum Bridgehead during World War II.

From the History section of Lebyazhye, Lomonosovsky District, Leningrad Oblast on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.