Olavinlinna Castle
Sign in to saveAlso known as Olaf's Castle, Olavinlinna, Olofsborg, St. Olaf's Castle, Olof's Castle
Olavinlinna (; ), also known as '''St. Olaf's Castle''', is a 15th-century three-tower castle located in Savonlinna, Finland. It is built on an island in the Kyrönsalmi strait that connects the lakes Haukivesi and Pihlajavesi. It is the northernmost medieval stone fortress still standing and also the best preserved of all the medieval castles in the Swedish realm. The castle forms a spectacular stage for the Savonlinna Opera Festival, which was held for the first time in the summer of 1912.
Key facts
- Building.name
- Olavinlinna
- Building.image
- Olavinlinna Savonlinna Finland.jpg
- Building.image_alt
- <!-- or
- Building.alt
- -->
- Building.image_caption
- The castle in 2020
- Building.pushpin_map
- Finland
- Building.map_caption
- Location in Finland
- Building.alternate_names
- OlofsborgSt. Olaf's Castle
- Building.architectural_style
- Castle
- Building.location_city
- Savonlinna
- Building.location_country
- Finland
- Building.construction_start_date
- 1475
- Military conflict.conflict
- Border conflict at Nyslott
- Military conflict.place
- Nyslott
- Military conflict.width
- 315
- Military conflict.partof
- the Russo-Swedish Wars
- Military conflict.date
- 1499
- Military conflict.territory
- Russians repulsed from Nyslott
via Wikipedia infobox
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- History
- Warfare
- Border conflicts
- Life inside the castle
- Tourism
- Gallery
- See also
- References
- External links
Olavinlinna (; ), also known as '''St. Olaf's Castle', is a 15th-century three-tower castle located in Savonlinna, Finland. It is built on an island in the Kyrönsalmi strait that connects the lakes Haukivesi and Pihlajavesi. It is the northernmost medieval stone fortress still standing and also the best preserved of all the medieval castles in the Swedish realm. The castle forms a spectacular stage for the Savonlinna Opera Festival, which was held for the first time in the summer of 1912.
== History == thumbnail|The castle has three towers remaining|left thumb|Ground plan|left The fortress was founded by Erik Axelsson Tott in 1475 under the name Sankt Olofsborg'' in an effort to profit from the political turmoil following Ivan III's conquest of the Novgorod Republic. It was sited in Savonia so as to lay claim to the Russian side of the border established by the Treaty of Nöteborg.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Olavinlinna Castle” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
Gallery (4)
On the map
3 mapped locations