The history of the fortified town is related to the variations of the nearby border, and this Baltic port became a pivot of East-West trade. In the old town, the town hall (late 18C), the St Peter and Paul orthodox church (1837) built by the Italian Visconti, who also worked in Saint-Petersburg, the neo-Byzantine belfry (1863) and the neo-Classical Lutherian Church (1843) by CL Engel are particularly remarkable. Bastions (18C) and a moat demarcate the town.