Vyborg, Medieval fortress town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia.
Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, close to the Finnish border on the Gulf of Finland. The old town spreads along narrow lanes and small squares, while the castle sits on an island linked to the mainland by bridges.
Swedish forces built a castle here in the 13th century as an outpost against the Novgorod Republic. Russia seized the town in the 18th century, and after a century under Finnish rule, it returned to Soviet control following the Second World War.
The market square and streets around the castle carry a mix of Russian speech and Scandinavian street names, reflecting centuries under Swedish and Finnish rule. Local cafés serve coffee and pastries in a style closer to Helsinki than to other Russian cities.
Visitors should bring comfortable shoes as the cobblestone streets can be uneven and the castle grounds involve several staircases. The town is small enough to walk around, and most points of interest lie within a few minutes on foot from one another.
The library designed by Alvar Aalto in the 1930s was one of his first public buildings and introduced techniques he later became known for worldwide. The undulating wooden ceiling and circular skylights distribute light evenly across the reading rooms, a revolutionary approach at the time.
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