Kyminlinna (literally, 'the castle of Kymi') is a

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

located in the northern part of island of Hovinsaari in

Kotka Kotka (; ) is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately , while the Kotka-Hamina sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is th ...

, on the south coast of

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, ...

. Kyminlinna is part of the South-Eastern Finland fortification system 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 ...

after the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790. Kyminlinna formed the northern part of a double fortification, together with Ruotsinsalmi sea fortress, where Kyminlinna was intended to repulse land-based attacks along the

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

Physical description

Kyminlinna is a five-corner-

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 ...

approximately in diameter. The surface area of the fortress is approximately . The fortress is surrounded by incomplete

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 ...

s, which also form part of the ditch system intended to drain the grounds. There is a

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

in the area despite the draining intentions. The eastern part of the ramparts are dissected by the Kotka railway built in 1890, and the Kymintie road built in the early 20th century. The national road 7 goes through the outer ramparts of the southern part of the fortress. The fortress houses 23 buildings, most of which have been empty after

Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) (; ) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy, and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime, the Finnish Border Guard becomes part of the Finnish Defence For ...

ceased using the fortress, and which are in varying states of disrepair.

History

The first fortification in the Kyminlinna location was a

bastion fortress 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 ...

of a few hundred metres in diameter, built between 1791 and 1795. The construction of the fortress was initially supervised by the Russian Marshall

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 ...

, later followed by the Dutch-born General Jan Pieter van Suchtelen. This so-called 'Suvorov fortress' was demolished to make room for the new, six times larger Kyminlinna, which was built in 1803–1808. General Suchtelen designed the new fortress and supervised its construction. The fortress was not quite ready by the time

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 ...

began, and lost its intended military usefulness after the border between

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

moved from Kymi River to Torne River. Kyminlinna did not see action during 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 ...

, when the Ruotsinsalmi sea fortress was destroyed. During the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

Kyminlinna was used by

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

as a training centre. Kyminlinna fortress saw its only battle during the civil war on April 9, 1918, when a German unit attacked the red guards based in the fortress. The battle resulted in few casualties, among them the German soldier Willy Heinz, who is buried in the Kotka old cemetery. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Kyminlinna was used as refugee camp for

Ingrian Finns Ingrian Finns (, ; ) are the Finnish people, Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lutheranism, Lutheran Finnish immigrants introduced into the area in the 17th century, when Finland ...

. The fortress was also used as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

camp, tuberculosis hospital and civil guard firing range. Kyminlinna was used by Finnish Defence Forces between 1939 and 2005. The area is currently owned by the Finnish government real estate enterprise

Senate Properties Senate Properties (in , in ) is a Finland, Finnish unincorporated entity, unincorporated state-owned enterprise, which property management, manages a major part of the real estate assets owned by the Republic of Finland. History Senate Propert ...

Gallery

File:Kyminlinna1.jpg, The main gate on the south-western side of the fortress File:Gate of Kyminlinna.JPG, Gate detail File:Tunnel in Kyminlinna.JPG, A partially collapsed tunnel File:Kyminlinna, North-eastern gate and the guardhouse.jpg, Guardhouse and the north-eastern gate of the fortress

Sources

Finnish national board of antiques Kyminlinna researchhttp://www.ymparisto.fihttp://kulttuuriymparisto.nba.fi

External links

Visual montage of the fortress (in Finnish)
{{Authority control Forts in Finland Buildings and structures in Kymenlaakso