[1] The location of the fortress used to be the marketplace of the Vehkalahti, which had received city rights in 1653 under the name of Vehkalahden Uusikaupunki.

[2][3] The construction of the fortress began by Swedish general Axel von Löwen after the Treaty of Nystadt in early 1720s.

After the Russo-Swedish War of 1741–1743 the still-unfinished fortress had to surrender to Russian troops and the area was annexed by Russia.

Dutch-born general Jan Pieter van Suchtelen considered the fortress obsolescent and inadequate, so the north-facing defences on the shore of Kirkkojärvi lake were demolished and replaced with a new large masonry bastion according with Caponier system in 1803.

[1][2] After the border between Russia and Sweden moved westwards to Torne River from Kymi River as result of the Finnish War, the fortress was abandoned in the 1830s and the Tsar Nicholas I gave the fortress area to Hamina town.