Solovyovo, Priozersky District, Leningrad Oblast

For other uses, see Solovyovo.

Taipale at the eastern end of the Mannerheim Line (pre-1940 border).

Solovyovo (Russian: Соловьёво; Finnish: Taipale), formerly Taipale, is a settlement in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the western shore of Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus about 80 km north of Saint Petersburg. The settlement is approximately 100 km east-south-east of the post-Winter War border with Finland. River Vuoksi's southern armlet Burnaya empties in Lake Ladoga at Solovyovo.

History

Taipale, at the Mannerheim Line then approximately 20 kilometers from the Finnish-Soviet border, became known for heavy fighting during the Battle of Taipale in December 1939 during the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union. The area was held by the Finnish forces until the end of that war, when all of the Karelian Isthmus was ceded to the Soviet Union and had to be evacuated in haste.

The memory of Taipale represents, both in Russia and in Finland, the tragedy of thousands of young sons, brothers and fathers fallen in battle.