Savonlinna olavinlinna · Olavinlinna in Savonlinna
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Olavinlinna in Savonlinna
Olavinlinna in Savonlinna
Medieval Olavinlinna (St. Olaf's Castle) is the city's symbol and main attraction. Built in 1475 by Danish knight Erik Axelsson to protect the eastern border of the Swedish-Danish Kalmar Union, it was named after the patron saint of knights, St. Olaf. The Russians were soon on the offensive, but the castle withstood several sieges before capitulating in 1714. The Swedes recaptured it in 1721, but lost it again in 1743, and it stayed in Russian hands ever since. This also explains why it has stayed in such good shape: for the Russians, it was far inland and militarily useless, and hence not a target for the enemy either.
Today, Olavinlinna is the world's northernmost medieval stone castle and easily Finland's best-preserved and most attractive castle, and it's quite a sight perched on the shores of the lake. The interior, though, is surprisingly small and sparse (virtually all furniture and decorations were lost in fires in around 1870), and free guided tours take one hour. There are two small museums inside the castle:
Castle Museum, covers the castle's history
Orthodox Museum, with Russian Orthodox icons and paraphernalia
Entry to the castle is €5/3.50 adult/child. The castle is open daily 10 AM-6 PM in summer, 11 AM-4 PM during the rest of the year. Guided tours in English run every hour in summer (enquire in advance at [email protected] in other seasons), but you can still visit the museums and courtyards without it.
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Savonlinna Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.