* Russians build a fortress in Ivangorod, on the eastern banks of the Narva river.

The Saxon-Polish army however had gone into winter camp south of the river Daugava so Charles XII decided to deal with the more immediate Russian threat against Narva.

In January 1945 Ivangorod, a town across the river which was founded in 1492 by Tsar Ivan III of Russia, was given a separate administrative status from the rest of Narva, as a part of the Leningrad Oblast in the Russian SFSR.

The name of the river comes from a Proto-Indo-European root * nr primarily associated with water ( compare Narva, Neretva, Neris, Ner and Nur ).

Consequent to this the northeastern front stabilized along the Narva river.

The Narva ( Estonian: Narva jõgi ) ( or Narova ) is a river flowing into the Baltic Sea, the largest river in Estonia.

Draining Lake Peipsi, the river forms the border of Estonia and Russia and flows through the towns of Narva / Ivangorod and Narva-Jõesuu into Narva Bay.

The river gives its name to the Narva culture and the city of Narva.

There are a few more small villages on the upper section of the river, for example Permisküla and Kuningaküla on the Estonian side and Omuti on the Russian side, but up to the city of Narva the shores of the river are mostly forested or marshy.

The river is dammed entering Narva and Ivangorod, forming the Narva Reservoir, which extends up to 38 km upstream.

Narva flows into Narva Bay near the Estonian town of Narva-Jõesuu, third largest settlement on the river after Narva and Ivangorod.

Between Narva and Ivangorod the river flows over the Baltic Klint, forming the Narva Waterfall, once among the most powerful in Europe.

Narva has for centuries been an important border river.

Though in earlier periods Narva was part of a larger buffer zone between the two territories, gradually the river emerged as the exact border.

Although no official border treaty has been ratified since then, today Narva River is the eastern border of the European Union and Schengen Zone.

Since 2000, Silde has been the director of Narva Vocational Studies Centre.

Charles XII was now able to speedily deploy his army to the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea and face his remaining enemies: besides the army of Augustus II in Livonia, an army of Russian tsar Peter I was already on its way to invade Swedish Ingria, where it laid siege to Narva in October.

During November, Russian troops surrounded the Swedish city of Narva in Estonia ( part of Sweden at the time ), attempting to secure its surrender via siege.

At its height, the Golden Horde controlled the areas from Central Siberia and Khorazm to the Danube and Narva.

The castle and surrounding town of Narva became a possession of the Livonian Order in 1346, after the Danish king sold its lands in Northern Estonia.

However, due to opposition from Tallinn, Narva itself never became part of the Hanseatic League and also remained a very small town – its population in 1530 is estimated at 600 – 750 people.

During the Great Northern War, Narva was the setting for its first great battle between the forces of King Charles XII of Sweden and Tsar Peter I of Russia.

Although already in 1947 nearby Sillamäe was selected as the location of the factory instead of Narva, the existence of such plan was decisive for the development of Narva in the first post-war years and thus also shaped its later evolution.

When Estonia regained its independence in 1991, Narva became again a border city.

Narva is dominated by the 15th-century castle, with the 51-metre-high Long Hermann tower as its most prominent landmark.

In 1700 he joined the Russian army in its attack on Narva at the outbreak of the Great Northern War but was driven back from his position in Estonia by Charles XII of Sweden.

On 14 January, the Soviet Krasnoye Selo – Ropsha Offensive succeeded in collapsing the German front, and the Nordland again fought its way back to the city of Narva in Estonia, where a new line of defence was being organized.

In January 1945, some territories of Estonian SSR were ceded to the Russian SFSR: the Russian – Estonian boundary in the north of Lake Peipus was moved westwards by about 12 kilometers from its interwar location ( which was delimited by the Treaty of Tartu ); the new boundary ( which exists up until these days ) runs along Narva river.

On 6 September 2005, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Anne Härmaste, Chargé d ' Affaires ad interim of Estonia in Russia, and handed her a note containing a notice of the intention of the Russian Federation to withdraw its signature and not to become a party to the Treaty Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Estonia on the Russian-Estonian State Border and to the Treaty Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Estonia on the Delimitation of the Sea Areas in the Narva Estuary and Gulf of Finland.

Ivangorod was granted city privileges and administered as a Russian township under the Crown of Sweden ( who conquered it in 1612 from boyar Teuvo Aminev ) until 1649, when its burghers were ordered to remove to a Narva suburb.

In Estonia, most Russians live in Tallinn ( as of year 2011, 38, 5 % of the city's population were ethnic Russians, while even higher number-46, 7 % spoke Russian as their mother tongue ) and in the north-eastern county of Ida-Virumaa, particularly such cities as Narva ( 82, 02 % of its inhabitants were ethnic Russians as of 2011 ), Sillamäe ( about 82 %) and Kohtla-Järve ( 69, 68 % respectively ).

In 1704, he was present at the capture of Narva.

Celebrated and feared Baltic Fleet sailors, one of the bastions of the new regime led by Pavel Dybenko, shamefully fled from the German army at Narva.

* 1700 – Battle of Narva – A Swedish army of 8, 500 men under Charles XII defeats a much larger Russian army at Narva.

Having led his army of 8, 000 on a forced march from Denmark to Estonia, Charles XII routs the huge Russian army at Narva.

Although the young Swedish King Charles XII ( 1682 – 1718 ; reigned 1697 – 1718 ) won spectacular victories in the early years of the Great Northern War, most notably in the stunning success against the Russians at the Battle of Narva ( 1700 ), his plan to attack Moscow and force Russia into peace proved too ambitious.

The beginning of the Neolithic Period is marked by the ceramics of the Narva culture, and appear in Estonia at the beginning of the 5th millennium.

Early Swedish victories at Humlebaek and at the Battle of Narva in 1700 temporarily took both Denmark and Russia out of the war.

Sweden parried the Danish and Russian attacks at Travendal and Narva, and in a counter-offensive pushed August II's forces through Lithuania and Poland to Saxony, dethroning August on the way and forcing him to acknowledge defeat in the Treaty of Altranstädt, which also secured the extradition and execution of Johann Reinhold Patkul, architect of the alliance seven years ' earlier.

In November, the Russian and Swedish armies met at the First Battle of Narva where the Russians suffered a crushing defeat.

After the dissolution of the first coalition through the peace of Travendal and with the victory at Narva ; the Swedish chancellor, Benedict Oxenstjerna, attempted to use the bidding for the favor of Sweden by France and the Maritime Powers ( then on the eve of the War of the Spanish Succession ) to end the war and make Charles an arbiter of Europe.

Charles countered this by attacking the Russian besiegers at the Battle of Narva.

Many of Peter's troops that fled the battlefield drowned in the Narva River, and the total number of Russian fatalities reached about 10, 000 at the end of the battle, while the Swedish troop lost 667 men.

Charles XII led early Swedish victories at Copenhagen and at the Battle of Narva in 1700 when he knocked both Denmark-Norway and Russia temporarily out of the war.

Narva castle and bastions ( Estonia ) from 13 century and episode of Ivangorod stronghold ( Russia ) at left

The victory at Narva

After the dissipation of the first coalition against him by the Treaty of Travendal on 18 August 1700 and the victory at the Battle of Narva on 20 November 1700 the Swedish Chancellor, Bengt Oxenstierna, rightly regarded the universal bidding for the favour of Sweden by France and the maritime powers, then on the eve of the War of the Spanish Succession, as a golden opportunity of " ending this present lean war and making his majesty the arbiter of Europe.

Charles proved an able military commander, however, quickly forcing the Danes out of the war and then driving back the Russians at Narva, thereby allowing him to focus on the struggle with Augustus.

It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.

The fortified settlement at Narva Joaoru is the oldest known in Estonia, dated to around 1000 BC.

According to historians, this name derives from the name of Narva or Narva River and indicates that a frequently used trade route went through Narva, although there is no evidence of the existence of a trading settlement at the time.