Loviisa Fortress

Earthwork bastions from Sweden's 18th-century attempt to guard its eastern frontier

Loviisa Fortress is more about reading the ground than admiring walls. Sweden began the land fortifications in 1748 after the border shifted eastward pressure onto this coast, but only parts of the planned defences were completed.

The surviving bastions sit close to the centre and make a good walk with the old town. They are modest, but they explain why Loviisa exists in the first place.

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