Hamina history

Peter Brahe founded the town of Weckelax Nystad in 1653 on the site of the former Vehkalahti. At that time, the town was granted the right to engage in foreign trade. After the town was destroyed in the Great Northern War, it was rebuilt in the 1720s in a circular plan and named Fredrikshamn after the Swedish king Frederick I. In Finnish, the name was translated as Hamina. Sweden began to fortify its eastern border against Russia, and Hamina became a fortified town.

The Hamina fortress was built by the Swedish general Axel von Löwen in the 1720s. The fortress and town are modeled after an Italian, star-shaped Renaissance fortress from the 1500th century. The Swedes only built the fortifications as sand ramparts. The Russians continued the fortification work in the 1740s, when the Russian, so-called Old Finnish, period began in Hamina.

The star-shaped bastion fortress encloses the old circular center, whose eight radial streets start from the Town Hall Square. Two of their cross streets, Isoympyräkatu and Pikkuympyräkatu, run in a circle, following the shape of the fortress. Pikkuympyräkatu is a full circle about 900 meters long.

The circular town, with its ramparts and town plan - rare even internationally - has been well preserved despite numerous great fires in the 1800th century. The town's military tradition has continued, first in the 1800th century at the Imperial Finnish Cadet School and in the 1900th century at the Reserve Officers' School.