Kärnäkoski Fortress
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Kärnäkoski Fortress is a
bastion A bastion 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 fire from the ...
fortress in
Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
located in Kärnäkoski,
Savitaipale Savitaipale (; literally translated the "clay passage") is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Karelia regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of whi ...
built by
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
between 1791 and 1793 to protect
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
.


Kärnäkoski fortress as part of the South-Eastern Finland fortification system

Kärnäkoski Fortress was part of a larger
South-Eastern Finland fortification system South-Eastern Finland fortification system is an extensive defensive system formed by three concentric fortress chains in South-East Finland built by Russia in the 1790s. The purpose of the fortification system was to protect the capital of ...
built to protect Saint Petersburg, the capital of
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
. After the
Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) The Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790 was fought between Gustavian era, Sweden and Russian Empire, Russia from June 1788 to August 1790. The war was ended by the Treaty of Värälä on 14 August 1790 and took place concomitantly with both the A ...
, and particularly in the light of the Swedish victories in the Battle of Porrassalmi and the naval Battle of Svensksund, Russian empress
Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...
decided to strengthen the defences in the north-western border of the empire. The construction of a large fortification system in south-eastern Finland was entrusted to general
Alexander Suvorov Count Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov-Rymniksky, Prince of Italy () was a Russian general and military theorist in the service of the Russian Empire. Born in Moscow, he studied military history as a young boy and joined the Imperial Russian ...
. To protect the capital three concentric fortress chains were built, with Kärnäkoski fortress belonging to the outermost chain located very near the border. Kärnäkoski fortress was built to both defend against a possible land-based attack from the isthmus between
Saimaa Saimaa ( , ; ) is a lake located in the Finnish Lakeland area in southeastern Finland. With a surface area of approximately , it is the largest lake in Finland, and the fourth-largest natural freshwater lake in Europe. The name Saimaa likely co ...
lake the
Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...
and to provide a base for the recently formed Russian Saimaa fleet.


Construction

General Suvorov, responsible for the construction of the South-Eastern Finland fortification system, selected the mouth of Kärnäjoki river on the isthmus between Saimaa lake and Kuolimojärvi lake near the
Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the Lappeenranta sub-r ...
-
Ristiina Ristiina (; in Swedish also known as ''Kristina'') was a municipality of Finland. It was founded in 1649 and it was named after Kristina Stenbock, the wife of Governor General and Count Per Brahe. From the beginning of the year 2013 Ristiina is ...
road as a location for one of the new border fortresses. The location allowed the fortress to guard the border between Sweden and Russia, control the traffic going via the road and monitor the shipping routes in western Saimaa. The area near the fortress had been a site for several engagements between Swedish and Russian troops in the Russo-Swedish War that had just ended. Kärnäkoski Fortress was constructed between 1791 and 1793. The designers of the fortress were French engineering officers who had fled the French Revolution to Russia. Kärnäkoski fortress was built according to the traditional French bastion system. However, instead of a uniform regular bastion shape, the fortress was built as an irregular shape and followed the terrain, most likely because of the limited space available. The western and southern sides of the fortress were guarded by three demi-bastions. Also three outworks,
ravelin A ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork, located in front of the innerworks of a fortress (the curtain walls and bastions). Originally called a ''demi-lune'', after the ''lunette'', the ravelin is placed outside a castle a ...
s, were built in front the main fortress wall. The less-vulnerable eastern and northern sides that were mostly protected by lake shore were defended only with
tenaille A tenaille (archaic tenalia) is an advanced defensive-work, in front of the main defences of a fortress, which takes its name from resemblance to the lip of a pair of pincers. It is "from French, literally: tongs, from Late Latin tenācula, pl ...
s. An earthwork wall and a
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
surrounded the fortress and the outworks. The fortress had a rear gate in the northern tip where it was possible to reach the ships and to get water. 55 cannon positions were built on fortress walls. Inside the fortress were built
barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...
,
guardhouse A guardhouse (also known as a watch house, guard building, guard booth, guard shack, security booth, security building, or sentry building) is a building used to house Security guard, personnel and security equipment. Guardhouses have histori ...
, officers quarters,
brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...
and
gunpowder magazine A gunpowder magazine is a magazine (building) designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was a universal explosive used in the military and for civil engineering: both applications re ...
. The wooden buildings have been later demolished, and now only remnants of stone bases remain of them. In addition to the main fortress, two additional supporting forts,
redoubt A redoubt (historically redout) is a Fortification, fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on Earthworks (engineering), earthworks, although some are constructed of ston ...
s, were built in the vicinity. The Kärnäkoski redoubt, also called the Mountain fort, was built 600 metres away from the main fortress to guard one entrance to the isthmus where the fortress was built. Partakoski redoubt was built two kilometres to north-west to guard the other side. 1400 Russian soldiers and local peasants took part in building Kärnäkoski fortress. A substantial number of workers perished from hard work and illnesses.


Fortress was used for only a short time

Kärnäkoski fortress guarded the Russian north-western border for only 15 years. During that time the fortress was also one of the bases for the Russian Saimaa fleet. Other bases were the
Lappeenranta Fortress Lappeenranta Fortress (Finnish: Lappeenrannan linnoitus) is a fortress located in Lappeenranta, Finland. History In 1649, after a visit to Vipuri, the Governor-General of Finland, Per Brahe the Younger, decided to establish a new town near the ...
and
Olavinlinna castle Olavinlinna (), also known as St. Olaf's Castle, is a 15th-century three-tower castle located in Savonlinna, Finland. It is built on an island in the Kyrönsalmi strait that connects the lakes Haukivesi and Pihlajavesi. It is the northernmost me ...
in
Savonlinna Savonlinna (, , ; ) is a town in Finland, located in the eastern interior of the country. It lies in the Finnish Lakeland, the South Savo region. The population of Savonlinna is approximately , while the Savonlinna sub-region, sub-region has a pop ...
. After the Russian-Swedish border moved westwards to Tornionjoki river in 1809 after the
Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...
, the fortresses in south-eastern Finland lost their military value, Kärnäkoski fortress among them. Tsar Nicholas I closed down the now-unnecessary inland fortresses in 1835. As a result, the fortresses were disarmed, the buildings and remaining equipment were auctioned and the walls and fortifications were left untended. Kärnäkoski fortress was built to protect against the Swedish threat, but never did see action against the intended enemy. During the Finnish War, the only war between Sweden and Russia when the fortress was in use, the battles took place far from the fortress after Swedish army retreated from the border before Russian advance avoiding battle. A century later in the Civil War of Finland the area nearby did see several battles.


Kärnäkoski fortress today

Today Kärnäkoski fortress is a tourist attraction, although there are no guided tours or other tourist or travel services in the fortress, simply guidance signs.
Finnish National Board of Antiquities The Finnish Heritage Agency (, ), previously known in English as the National Board of Antiquities, preserves Finland's material cultural heritage: collects, studies and distributes knowledge of it. The agency is a cultural and research institutio ...
and Finnish Ministry of the Environment have listed the fortress area as nationally significant cultural historic landmark. Finnish National Board of Antiquities has restored Kärnäkoski fortress to its former shape together with other fortresses in south-eastern Finland. Walls were repaired and the fortress area was restored and cleared. The work was finished in 1997. An inventory of the vegetation in the fortress area was conducted in 1987, based on which work began to maintain an old
meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...
biotope A biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of flora (plants), plants and fauna (animals), animals. ''Biotope'' is almost synonymous with the term habitat (ecology), "habitat", which ...
vegetation in the area. The area was reaped and cleared of young trees. Currently sheep are allowed to graze in the area during summer to maintain a traditional pasture in order to provide a suitable habitat for organisms that have become vulnerable after traditional agriculture began to modernize. Other historical buildings nearby are an old barge harbor, mill and saw built in the 1830s and a double-arch stone bridge from 1886. The mill has not been used since the 1950s, but was restored by a local village organization in 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Karnakoski Fortress Forts in Finland Buildings and structures in South Karelia Tourist attractions in South Karelia