Olavinlinna Castle
Fifteenth-century island fortress in Savonlinna, visited by guided tour and host of the summer opera festival.
Olavinlinna was founded in 1475 by the Danish-born knight Erik Axelsson Tott on a rocky islet in the Kyrönsalmi strait, to guard the eastern border of the Swedish realm against Novgorod. Built by masons brought from the Baltic, it was among the first castles in the Nordic region designed for firearms, with thick walls and round artillery towers. Sweden and Russia fought over it repeatedly; Russia took it in 1714 and again in 1743, after which it lost military importance and served as a prison and store.
Restoration campaigns from the 1870s onwards, and a thorough programme between 1961 and 1975, returned the castle to something close to its late medieval form. Three of the original round towers survive, together with vaulted halls, the castle chapel and a curtain wall walk. The National Museum of Finland runs the site, with guided tours, a core exhibition using models and film, and displays including the armour of the castle commander Abraham Pistolekors. The courtyard has hosted the Savonlinna Opera Festival since 1912.
Highlights
- Founded in 1475 to guard the eastern frontier of the Swedish realm
- Three surviving round artillery towers and vaulted medieval halls
- Core exhibition with models and film on the castle's history
- Courtyard stage used by the Savonlinna Opera Festival each July
![Afrique occidentale française : Cathédrale à St Louis / [photogr. Eugène] Gallois ; [photogr. reprod. par Radiguet et Massiot pour la conférence donnée par] Gallois](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Afrique_occidentale_fran%C3%A7aise_-_Cath%C3%A9drale_%C3%A0_St_Louis_-_%28photogr._Eug%C3%A8ne%29_Gallois_%3B_%28photogr._reprod._par_Radiguet_et_Massiot_pour_la_conf%C3%A9rence_donn%C3%A9e_par%29_Gallois_-_btv1b532798828.jpg/500px-thumbnail.jpg)
![[Golestan, Le Salon et Fete de l'equinode, Teheran, Iran (le Pavillion du Trone)]](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/-Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg/500px--Golestan%2C_Le_Salon_et_Fete_de_l%27equinode%2C_Teheran%2C_Iran_%28le_Pavillion_du_Trone%29-_MET_DP202918.jpg)
![Théâtre de la guerre dans l'Inde sur la coste de Coromandel / par M.B.C.T. [Monsieur Bourcet Capitaine ?] ; gravé par Croisey](https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg/500px-Fort_de_Calicuta_-_btv1b59706294.jpg)
