Primorsk, town

Subject / Topography/Cities
PRIMORSK (Swedish Bjorko, Finnish Koivisto, Primorsk since 1948), a town in Vyborg District. Population: 5,300. Important port on the Baltic Sea. Connected with railways to St. Petersburg (1916) and Vyborg (1925). First mentioned in a chronicle under 1268 as Novgorod’s trade point Berezovskoye. Later, its name was changed to the Swedish Bjorko (until 1918), and the Finnish Koivisto (meaning “birch” in both languages.) The natural conditions of the environs of P. (skerries and bays) promoted development of shipping, fishing, and fish and seal fat trade by mediation of merchants of the Hanseatic League. Under the Treaty of Orekhovo of 1323 it belonged to Sweden. In 1721 (actually in 1710) it became a part of Russia, and in 1811, of the Great Principality of Finland; in 1917-40, it was a part of independent Finland. In 1940, after the Soviet-Finnish War, it went to Russia, with the town’s entire population replaced. From 1940 it was a district center of the Karelo-Finnish SSR, and since 1944, in Leningrad Oblast. Currently, it is known due to its large oil loading terminal (since 2001), and fishing and fish processing enterprises. The name of the Russian-German Bjorko Treaty signed in 1905 by Nicholas II and the German Emperor Wilhelm II was connected with P. In the late 1950s, the trials of the world’s first nuclear icebreaker “Lenin” took place at P. The building of the Lutheran Church of Mary Magdalene has survived (1904, arch. I. D.Stenbeck.) Currently, the town has a culture center (since 1948) and a museum of the local history (since 1996). P. has a town library and a children’s library, children’s creativity house, and schools of art and music. The municipal TV company " Primorsky Parus" has been operating since 1996. The town has the ”Sail and Cross” monument (1992, sculptor A. Saalo) as a symbol of friendship between the Russian and Finnish nations, and a monument to Soviet soldiers who were killed in 1941-44. In June 2005, the Primorskiye Zori festival of poetry and bard songs was held (as part of celebration of the Town Day.) The “Birch Islands” reserve is located in the environs of P. (it has an independent status since 1996); its area is 12,000 hectares, of which 7,000 ha is the Gulf waters. Chistyakov, Anton Yuryevich
Nicholas II, Emperor
Saalo, A.
Stenbek, Iosif Daniel
Wilhelm II, Emperor
Historical Toponyms/Berezovskoye
Topographical landmarks/B'yorkezund Strait, the
Neighbouring Territories/Finland
Topographical landmarks/Gulf of Finland, the
Historical Toponyms/Karelian Finland SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic)
Leningrad Oblast, the/Vyborg District/Primorsk Town
Historical Toponyms/Grand Principality of Finland/Vyborg Province
Leningrad Oblast, the/Vyborg District/Vyborg Town
Карельский перешеек – земля неизвестная Ч.5-6. Юго-Западный сектор: Койвисто – Йоханнес [Приморск – Советский] /Сост. Е.А.Балашов.- СПб.: ИПК «Нива», 2003., С.63-73
Берёзовское-Бьёрке-Койвисто-Приморск / ред. А.П. Кандыбко. СПб.,1998, С.63-73
Cайт города Приморска. Ленинградская область. Новости. URL: http://www.primorsk.ru, С.63-73
Kansanaho E. Koivisto. Sen vaiheista, asukkaista ja elinkeinoista. Vammala, 1953, С.63-73
"Beryozoviye ostrova" ("Birch Islands"), a reserve
Primorsk children art school
Primorsk children musical school
Primorsk House of Culture
Primorsk Town Children Library, the
Primorsk Town Library, the
"Primorsky parus" ("Primorsk Sail"), TV company
Ptimorsk Museum of the Local History
"Sail and Cross", a monument
"Seaside Dawns", festival of poetry and authors' songs named after A.I. Yashunskaya
The Church of Sainted Hierach Nicholas the Wonderworker (Primorsk Town)
The Lutheran Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Primorsk Town, Vyborg District)