Vyborg Castle (Russia)
In 1583, this wall was rebuilt into a defense one and it had loopholes for hand firearms. In the south, this wall was connected to the southern wall of XV century. Two constructions protruded from the eastern wall: one of them was the former Sapozhnik tower, which was then joined to the main building of the castle and thus became its part, the other one — south-eastern — was a special two-floor construction which was leading down to the bank, where a dam was made in 1561 across the bay to join the castle to the city. In 1560, maintenance work was done in the facilities of the main building as well as in other buildings on the island. The road around the castle was paved with stone.
In 1561-1564, reconstruction works were carried out in Saint Olaf tower: the tower was disassembled down to the second floor, then its upper part was built with brick — the third and fourth floors in the shape of a tetrahedron, the three upper floors were made octagonal in shape. The height of the tower without roof was about 40 meters; floor decks were planked; stone spiral stair was built. Upper floor gun ports were equipped with large caliber guns that held all the surrounding territory at gunpoint. The roof of the tower was made out of “logs and boards covered with roofing lead, sent by king Eric from Stockholm.”
Thus, Saint Olaf tower became an artillery tower and was one of the biggest constructions of this kind in Northern Europe.
In 1580, south defensive wall experienced a major reconstruction. Report of the castle’s affairs as of 1582 said, “…old castle bulwark located opposite the bridge that joined the island and the city was demolished to clear the ground for a new and stronger wall.”
Since 1582, instead of inflammable wooden quarter-decks and bulwarks, stone outer wall was being constructed which encircled the island from the western and partially from the northern side. On the layout of the island dated by 1615 it looks finished.
In 1606-1608, Pozharnaya tower and a gateway house at the entrance to the island were united into one stone three-floor building with a tower — Governor’s House. For its time it was, probably, the most comfortable building of Vyborg, where the vicegerent was living. In 1634, due to an administrative reform, the house became the governor’s residence. The last of the Swedish kings, who visited the castle, was king Gustav II Adolf. He stopped by on his way from Narva to Helsingfors in January of 1616.
During the next centuries construction and maintenance works in the castle continued, but they were not of the same scale as before. In the end of XVII century, storerooms were built next to the outer defense wall on the inside.
In XVIII century, the walls and facilities of the castle were remodeled after they suffered from Russian cannons in 1710, when Vyborg was besieged by Peter Is troops. There was a major reconstruction of the castle’s main building and Saint Olaf tower in the end of XIX century. The reason for such a reconstruction was a fire that broke out on August 26 (September 7) of 1856. On that unlucky day when the fireworks were lighted in the castle to celebrate the opening of Saimenskiy Canal the dome of Saint Olaf tower caught on fire. The entire tower burned from within. The fire spread to the main building: beams were destroyed by it, ceilings fell, inner walls fell in. These facilities rermained desolate for a few decades and time was tearing down that which was not destroyed by fire.
Eventually, needed funds were budgeted by the Russian government, and, in 1891-1894, reconstruction works had been done in the castle. They were carried out by the military-engineering department — the building was adjusted for its needs. It resulted in irreparable damage that was done to the medieval constructions: arched ceilings and trabeations were dismantled, inner rooms were redesigned. Before the entrance to Saint Olaf tower a high stone porch was made. Floor decks were not restored and a metal staircase was built into the wall brickwork.