Hamina Fortress () is located 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, ...

on the coast of 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 it is an integral part of the

Hamina Hamina (; , , Sweden ) is a List of cities in Finland, town and a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located approximately east of the country's capital Helsinki, in the Kymenlaakso Regions of Finland, region, and formerly ...

city centre. Hamina fortress is a

Star fort A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, meaning 'Italian outline') is a fortification in a style developed during the early modern period in response to the ascendancy of gunpowder weapons such as c ...

, representing the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

ideal city embodied by

Palmanova Palmanova () is a town and (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northeast Italy. The town is an example of a star fort of the late Renaissance, built up by the Venetian Republic in 1593. Th ...

city in northeastern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Construction

The location of the fortress used to be the marketplace of the

Vehkalahti Vehkalahti () is a List of former municipalities of Finland, former municipality surrounding the town of Hamina in south-eastern Finland. At the beginning of 2003 Hamina and Vehkalahti combined to form a new town of Hamina. History These souther ...

, which had received city rights in 1653 under the name of Vehkalahden Uusikaupunki. The city was destroyed in the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

in 1712. The construction of the fortress began by Swedish general Axel von Löwen after the Treaty of Nystadt in early 1720s. Von Löwen wanted to prevent the

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 ...

n advance into the Gulf of Finland as envisioned by the

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

, who wanted to open the sea routes for Russia. Alongside the Hamina fortress, the construction of another fortress also began in

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 ...

. Protected by the six

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 ...

s, named after other Finnish fortified cities, of the fortress the garrison was responsible for defending the city and the coastal road. After the Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743 the still-unfinished fortress had to surrender to Russian troops and the area was annexed by Russia. 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 ...

continued the construction of the fortress.

19th century

At the beginning of the 19th century Hamina fortress, one of the many fortresses that were reinforced as part of the South-Eastern Finland fortification system. Dutch-born general Jan Pieter van Suchtelen considered the fortress obsolescent and inadequate, so the north-facing defences on the shore of Kirkkojärvi lake were demolished and replaced with a new large masonry bastion according to

Caponier A caponier is a type of defensive structure in a fortification. Fire from this point could cover the ditch beyond the curtain wall (fortification), curtain wall to deter any attempt to storm the wall. The word originates from the French ', meaning ...

system in 1803. After the border between Russia and Sweden moved westwards to Torne River from

Kymi River The Kymi (, ) is a river in Finland. It begins at Lake Päijänne, flows through the provinces of Päijänne Tavastia, Uusimaa and Kymenlaakso, and discharges into the Gulf of Finland. The river passes the towns of Heinola and Kouvola. The town ...

as result of 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 fortress was abandoned in the 1830s and the Tsar Nicholas I gave the fortress area to Hamina town. Simultaneously, the position of the commander of the fortress was dissolved. Hamina fortress saw action again in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. The fortress was reinforced and the position of the fortress commander was re-established for the duration of the war.

Fortress today

The restoration of the fortress began in 1957 and since the 1980s Finnish National Board of Antiquities has been responsible for the renovating the fortress structures. Much of the fortress remains to this day, and it is used as a venue for different events. Perhaps the most notable is the

Tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

, an international military music event held bi-annually in Hamina. Parts of the fortress are still in military use, as the Finnish Reserve Officer School is located in the fortress.

References

External links

Fredrikshamn FortressRakennusperintö.fi – Hamina fortress park is improved continuously
{{Finnish castles Hamina Forts in Finland Military installations established in the 1720s Military installations established in 1803 Buildings and structures in Kymenlaakso 1721 establishments in Sweden