The Tower of St. Olav is the one remaining tower of
Vyborg Castle
Vyborg Castle (russian: Выборгский замок, fi, Viipurin linna, sv, Viborgs slott) is a Swedish-built medieval fortress around which the town of Vyborg (today in Russia) evolved. The castle became the stronghold of the Swedish real ...
. It is a symbol and an architectural landmark of the city of
Vyborg
Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...
.
History
![Vyborg Castle in 14th century](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Vyborg_Castle_in_14th_century.jpg)
The fortress was conceived by
Torkel Knutsson
Torkel (Tyrgils or Torgils) Knutsson (d. 1306) was Lord High Constable of Sweden, member of the Privy Council of Sweden (''Riksråd''), and virtual ruler of Sweden during the early reign of King Birger Magnusson (1280–1321).
Biography
To ...
, the
Lord High Constable of Sweden The Lord High Constable ( sv, Riksmarsk or only ''Marsk'') was a prominent and influential office in Sweden, from the 13th century until 1676, excluding periods when the office was out of use. The office holder was a member of the Swedish Privy Cou ...
, who led in the 1290s a
crusade to
Karelia, the
Third Finnish Crusade, which was actually aimed against the
Republic of Novgorod
The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of mod ...
. He chose the location of the new fortress to command the
Bay of Vyborg
Vyborg Bay (, , ) is a deep inlet running northeastward near the eastern end of Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. The city of Vyborg is located near the head of the gulf.
The Monrepos Park is considered a jewel of the bay and a major draw f ...
, which was a trading site already used by locals. From the bay, a river leads inland, ultimately connecting the place to several districts, lakes, and indirectly also to rivers going to
Lake Ladoga.
1293 construction
By request of
Torkel Knutsson
Torkel (Tyrgils or Torgils) Knutsson (d. 1306) was Lord High Constable of Sweden, member of the Privy Council of Sweden (''Riksråd''), and virtual ruler of Sweden during the early reign of King Birger Magnusson (1280–1321).
Biography
To ...
the main fortress tower was constructed in 1293.
According to the Russian military historians the first fortifications consisted of a rectangular
donjon
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...
type
tower
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specifi ...
and the closed perimeter of a
defensive wall, which surrounded the tower.
Russian
archaeological excavations confirm this fact.
The builders constructed the tower from huge boulders, according to traditions of the
Italian fortification style then dominant in Europe.
The tower was named for a legendary king of Norway,
Olaf Sacred, who confirmed Christianity in Scandinavia and was later canonised.
The foundation of the tower is made of stone laid without
mortar; the tower walls are composed of stones cemented with strong mortar and rivetted by
boulders.
The tower is
rectangular
In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90°); or a parallelogram containin ...
(size is 15.5 х 15.6 meters), with walls 4.5 meters thick.
The tower top has a crenelated wall on which a wooden gallery for defenders was erected.
The castle cellar was used for
storage of supplies and a
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
, while the ground floor was used for living space.
The new fortress was repeatedly besieged by the armies of the
Novgorod Republic
The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of mod ...
, the most serious siege occurring in 1322.
In this siege the most advanced artillery of the age was used:
stone fougasse, including possibly the heavy
arbalest
The arbalest (also arblast) was a late variation of the crossbow coming into use in Europe during the 12th century. A large weapon, the arbalest had a steel prod (the "bow" portion of the weapon). Since the arbalest was much larger than earlier ...
.
As a result of excavation, it has been discovered that wooden structures were once attached to the walls of the stone structure.
Researchers have discovered traces burnt down in 14th century of a workshop processing
bone
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...
and
sheet bronze. They cannot, however, conclude with confidence whether or not a
foundry works was present.
In 1403
Vyborg
Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...
received the official status of a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
.
Most likely at the beginning of 15th century the coast was connected with the lock by a
bateau bridge named
Fortress bridge.
![Vyborg Castle in 15th century](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Vyborg_Castle_in_15th_century.jpg)
Before attaining the royal throne of Sweden,
Karl Knutsson (Bonde) took residence in Vyborg in 1442 and began strengthening and expanding the castle.
He constructed new premises and strengthened the castle with new walls and towers, arranging it on the model of the European cities of that time.
The tower of St. Olav received one more circle around it, connecting it with a group of buildings with which it was brought under a single roof in 1442–1448.
Constructions of later time
In the middle of 16th century Swedish king
Gustav Vasa
Gustav I, born Gustav Eriksson of the Vasa noble family and later known as Gustav Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560, previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm ('' Riksför ...
reconstructed and strengthened a fortress for expansion of borders of the state on the east.
In 1525 the German count Johan von Hoya, brother-in-law of Gustav Vasa, became deputy of the castle.
Instead of taking actions to strengthen the castle as a military fortress he began to arrange
balls and
tournaments
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
which demanded considerable expenses.
King Gustav sent an army to conquer Vyborg and count Johan von Hoya fled to
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the state ...
.
In 1555 when Gustav Vasa was preparing for his next war with Russia he visited Vyborg and spent some time living in the castle.
He noted its shabby condition and mentioned in a letter «those lacks and errors» which he has seen in Finland.
![Vyborg Castle in 1827](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Vyborg_Castle_in_1827.gif)
The king considered it a priority to carry out an urgent reconstruction of the defensive works both in the castle and in the city.
Between 1556 and 1560 building was directed by deputy Klas Kristersson Horn.
During this reconstruction Vyborg castle took the general form that it has retained to this day, but Horn did not have time to finish the defensive works and Tower of St. Olav was finally reconstructed by his son,
Eric XIV
Eric XIV ( sv, Erik XIV; 13 December 153326 February 1577) was King of Sweden from 1560 until he was deposed in 1569. Eric XIV was the eldest son of Gustav I (1496–1560) and Catherine of Saxe-Lauenburg (1513–1535). He was also ruler of Es ...
.
In 1561–1564
the top part of the quadrangular tower was disassembled, and three floors re-erected in the form of an
octangle.
The tower was built of
brick with a roof covered in
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
specially brought from
Stockholm.
Over an entry gate, by order of the king, were placed the arms «three crowns»; in the tower were placed
artillery of large calibre; and in a cellar was installed a warehouse for
kernels
Kernel may refer to:
Computing
* Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems
* Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution
* Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming
* Kernel method, in machine learnin ...
.
![Vyborg Castle in 1839](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Vyborg_Castle_in_1839.gif)
During the
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swed ...
Russian armies under
Peter I Peter I may refer to:
Religious hierarchs
* Saint Peter (c. 1 AD – c. 64–88 AD), a.k.a. Simon Peter, Simeon, or Simon, apostle of Jesus
* Pope Peter I of Alexandria (died 311), revered as a saint
* Peter I of Armenia (died 1058), Catholico ...
took all the fortresses of
Karelia and
Ingria
Ingria is a historical region in what is now northwestern European Russia. It lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus in the north and by the River Narva on the border with Esto ...
: in 1703–1704 –
Nyenschantz
Nyenschantz (russian: Ниенша́нц, ''Nienshants''; sv, Nyenskans; fi, Nevanlinna) was a Swedish fortress at the confluence of the Neva River and Okhta River, the site of present-day Saint Petersburg, Russia. Nyenschantz was built in 1611 ...
,
Jama
''The Journal of the American Medical Association'' (''JAMA'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of biom ...
,
Koporye,
Noteburg, and
Ivangorod
Ivangorod ( rus, Иванго́род, p=ɪvɐnˈɡorət; et, Jaanilinn; vot, Jaanilidna) is a town in Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the east bank of the Narva river which flows along the Estonia–Russia int ...
.
Vyborg
Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...
fell on June, 13th 1710.
![Vyborg Castle in 1880](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Vyborg_Castle_in_1880.gif)
The
Medieval interiors of the castle remained up to the middle of 19th century, but the most part have been destroyed by fire.
In 1834 lightning struck a
flagstaff of the tower, sparking a fire that burnt down the wooden
support beams; the tower was restored in 1844.
From during celebrations on the occasion of opening of
Saimaa Canal
The Saimaa Canal ( fi, Saimaan kanava; sv, Saima kanal; russian: Сайменский канал) is a transportation canal that connects lake Saimaa with the Gulf of Finland near Vyborg, Russia. The canal was built from 1845 to 1856 and opene ...
fireworks
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...
were arranged. These ignited the dome of the tower and from there the fire was thrown down on buildings standing nearby, consuming all of Vyborg Castle in flames.
The fire consumed the wooden buildings abutting the Tower of St. Olav, and only the
Commandant's house and buildings of the Forward courtyard escaped.
Tower restoration was undertaken by the engineer corps under Colonel E. Lezedov on the orders of
Russian Military Office in 1891–1894.
The tower gate was given a granite stoop, and the internal premises were built anew, including the addition of a metal ladder mounted to the top part of the tower leading up to a viewing platform.
![Vyborg Castle in 1900s (postcard)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Vyborg_Castle_in_1900s_%28postcard%29.jpg)
From May 1, 1913 through August 6, 1914 Nikolay Suhomlin supervised engineering and civil work on the fortress.
In the 1920s
Finnish authorities again repaired the tower and partially opened it to the public, but it remained a military facility.
Current state
Following the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
the territory on which the tower is built passed under the jurisdiction of
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
.
The castle lagged behind as a military facility and after 1964 it was transferred to the
Vyborg state museum of local lore.
In the castle, work continues on the maintenance and safety of the monument, and now Vyborg Castle is seen as a unique monument of West European military architecture that was shaped by developments from the 13th through 19th centuries.
Since 2000 the museum has been known as the
State museum «Vyborg Castle».
It is now due for major restoration. Artem Novikov, chairman of the
Russian Association of restorers, plans to begin restoration in 2010–2012.
References
External links
Vyborg Castleat Northern Fortress
*
{{Vyborg Castle
Buildings and structures in Vyborg
1293 establishments in Europe
Buildings and structures completed in 1293
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Leningrad Oblast
Towers in Russia