Vyborg is one of the westernmost cities in Russia. The city’s history goes back to a Karelian settlement, while its official foundation was the construction of a castle here by the Swedes during a crusade in 1293. In the following decades, the castle was fought over between Sweden and Novgorod, and with the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323, Vyborg and part of Karelia became Swedish. At the Swedish castle, a trading post arose, which today is known as Old Vyborg. The castle in Vyborg became one of the most important in Sweden, and the city was an important stronghold against Russia in the east. From the end of the 15th century, fortifications were built around Vyborg, as it is also known from Visby on Gotland Island.

However, the Swedish-Russian disputes were far from over, and in the so-called troubled times in Russia at the beginning of the 17th century, Charles IX’s Swedish invasion army attacked Russia, and after the Ingermanland War 1610-1617, the Peace of Stolbova was concluded in 1617. The peace secured Sweden large Russian territories, thereby moving the border far away from Vyborg, which lost its military importance. Russia did not remain in the troubled times, and with the Great Nordic War, Peter the Great’s Russia conquered Vyborg and many of the former Russian territories from Sweden. It happened formally with the Peace of Nystad in 1721, which ended Sweden’s status as a great power on the east coast of the Baltic Sea.

With the Russian status came new development in Vyborg, which also continued as an export port for timber. The city’s fortifications were also strengthened and expanded, and the construction of the Saimaa Canal to Lake Saimaa and the railway to Saint Petersburg gave the city a better location for transport. The Russian era lasted this time until World War I, when Finland broke away from Russia and captured Vyborg, which in the following decades grew to be the country’s second largest city. After the Winter War 1939-1940, Karelia became Russian again, and that status was confirmed with the peace agreements in Paris in 1947. Since then, Vyborg has been a Russian border town with extensive tourism not least from Finland.

Today, Vyborg lies beautifully in the countryside, and it offers many sights that originate from both Swedish, Finnish and Russian times. The best-known building is Vyborg’s old Swedish castle, which is located on an island off the oldest part of the city. The castle’s appearance today derives primarily from restoration at the end of the 1800s, and it is a museum. From the castle you can cross a bridge to old Vyborg’s narrow streets and fine architecture. You arrive at the city’s old town hall, and from the town hall square you can walk along the water or explore the streets.

In the northern part of the old town is the large square where Vyborg’s beautiful market hall is located with many stalls. On the same square is the Round Tower, Kruglaya Bashnya, which was built by the Swedes in the years 1547-1550 as an armory and as a reinforcement of Vyborg’s medieval wall. The tower was made a restaurant in 1938 and is still one of the city’s popular places to eat. At the square you can also see Saint Peter and Paul Church, which was built 1793-1799, and which is just one of several churches worth seeing in the city. From here you can go to Red Square, which is surrounded by newer buildings, and in the square, you can see a statue of the head of state Lenin. South of this square is Finnish Alvar Aalto’s city library, which was built 1933-1935 and thus in the city’s Finnish decades.