Oulu Castle

Oulu, Finland

Oulu castle (Uleåborg) was built in 1590 for a stronghold to Swedish soldiers on their way to fight against Russian Karelia. The castle was mostly made of wood and earth walls. There probably was an earlier medieval castle on the same location. The Russian Sophia Chronicle has recorded that men from Novgorod tried to conquer a new castle in the Oulu River delta in 1377 but were unsuccessful. King of Sweden, Charles IX ordered to rebuild the castle in 1605. Old wooden parts were demolished and a new wall was built around the castle island.

Russians burned down wooden parts of the Oulu castle during the Great Northern War in 1715. Final destruction occured in 1793, when thunderstorm set the castle on fire and gunpowder magazine exploded.

Wooden constructions on the remaining powder magazine date from 1875 when the Oulu School of Sea Captains built their observatory on the site. The building has been a cafeteria since 1912 with a small exhibition on the castle history.

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Address

Merikoskenkatu, Oulu, Finland
See all sites in Oulu

Details

Founded: 1590
Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in Finland
Historical period: Reformation (Finland)

More Information

www.ouka.fi
en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.1/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Phil Dangerfield (2 years ago)
An interesting bit of history for the local area but its not particularly fantastic. Im surprised they rebuilt it, but as they say “if you build it they will come” and yep i went and looked. Posted a video of the stone basement/cellar.
Dong He (2 years ago)
Was not able to go inside but great architecture to look at from outside
Karl S (4 years ago)
Small but pretty.
seema jeeva (5 years ago)
beautiful place
shadil (5 years ago)
Oulu castle ("Uleåborg") was built in 1590 for a stronghold to Swedish soldiers on their way to fight against Russian Karelia. The castle was mostly made of wood and earth walls. There probably was an earlier medieval castle on the same location. The Russian Sophia Chronicle has recorded that men from Novgorod tried to conquer a new castle in the Oulu River delta in 1377 but were unsuccessful. King of Sweden, Charles IX ordered to rebuild the castle in 1605. Old wooden parts were demolished and a new wall was built around the castle island. Russians burned down wooden parts of the Oulu castle during the Great Northern War in 1715. Final destruction occured in 1793, when thunderstorm set the castle on fire and gunpowder magazine exploded. Wooden constructions on the remaining powder magazine date from 1875 when the Oulu School of Sea Captains built their observatory on the site. The building has been a cafeteria since 1912 with a small exhibition on the castle history.
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