Torkel Knutsson, Lord High Constable of Sweden, ordered the stone castle in 1293, on the site of an earlier Karelian fortress. The article names no builders. Excavations show the Karelian fort used a sand breastwork with timber posts.
The castle stands on the highest hill of a small islet, with an irregular four-cornered plan and 3 to 4 stories. The Tower of St. Olav is its largest section. It was enlarged in the 1440s and the late 15th century, renovated in the 16th century and left to decay in the 17th. Extensive restorations in the 1890s gave it its present appearance. The article names no style, materials or dimensions.
Russia took Vyborg in 1710, and the Russian military used the castle until 1918. Finland held the town in 1917 to 1940 and 1941 to 1944, and the Soviet Union annexed it in 1944. The Vyborg Regional Museum now occupies the castle.
Comments