Courtyard of the Citadel of the Shlisselburg Fortress

This is the most protected place of the 'Russian Bastille', a kind of fortress within a fortress. In front of its walls there was a moat with water, and there were sentries on the walls. Under the red roof - the Old Prison or 'Secret House' is seen. This is exactly what it looked like in the 1820-30s, when its prisoners were the Decembrists, and then participants in the Polish uprising of 1830. This prison was also the last night on the way to the gallows. Those sentenced to death were kept here, in particular Lenin's brother, Alexander Ulyanov. The gallows were usually built near the wall facing Ladoga (right side of the photo, where the crown of the apple tree is now).