Utti Fortress is a

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

fortress in Utti, Finland. It was built in 1790s as a part of a larger South-Eastern Finland fortification system to protect Saint Petersburg, the capital of Russian Empire. The fortress was built around the area of the Battle of Utti that was fought during the

Russo-Swedish War Wars between Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and ...

in 1789. During the battle, Russians had noted that the narrow passage between the Haukkajärvi lake and the Haukkasuo bog was suitable for a fortress, as it was difficult to bypass. Construction process started in 1791 and finished in 1792. Around 1100 men took part in the construction, some being from the military and some from the countryside nearby. Within the fortress were barracks, officers quarters, stables, guardhouse and gunpowder magazine. It could house up to 400 soldiers. The fortress was armed at the beginning with 14 cannons and 2

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

s, but later it had up to 24 cannons. There were plans of expanding the fortress, so that the old fortress would have been encircled by the newer one. The plans were never put in motion, as after the Finnish War the border was moved to the

Gulf of Bothnia The Gulf of Bothnia (; fi, Pohjanlahti; sv, Bottniska viken) is divided into the Bothnian Bay and Bothnian Sea, and it is the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea, between Finland's west coast ( East Bothnia) and the Sweden's east coast (West ...

and the fortress system lost its importance. Fortress was never fully completed and it was ultimately shut down in 1809.

References

Forts in Finland {{Russia-mil-stub