After numerous wars between the Russians and Swedes, the Treaty of Nöteborg in 1323 defined the border of eastern Finland, and would separate the two cultures.

[14] In 2010, Vyborg was conferred the status of "City of Military Glory" by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

[19] The city hosts the Russian end of the 1,222 km (759 mi) Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, laid in 2011 and operated by a consortium led by Russia's Gazprom state hydrocarbons enterprise to pump 55 billion cubic meters (1.9 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas a year under the Baltic Sea to Lubmin, Germany.

Wider settlement in the area of Vyborg is generally regarded to date from 13th century onwards when Hanseatic traders began traveling to Novgorod.

[25] Vyborg Castle was founded during the Third Swedish Crusade in 1293 by marsk Torkel Knutsson[23][26] on the site of an older Karelian fort which was burned.

[27] The castle, which was the first centre for the spread of Christianity in Karelia,[28] was fought over for decades between Sweden and the Republic of Novgorod.

In practice, though not having this as their formal title, they functioned as Margraves, had feudal privileges, and kept all the crown's incomes from the fief to use for the defense of the realm's eastern border.

[29] The 1721 Treaty of Nystad, which concluded the war with Sweden, finalized the transfer of the town and a part of Old Finland to Russia.

[30] Another result of the loss of Vyborg was that its diocese was moved to Borgå, transforming the town into an important learning centre.

The inauguration of the Saimaa Canal in 1856 benefited the local economy, as it opened the vast waterways of Eastern Finland to the sea.

The evacuees from Finnish Karelia came to be a vociferous political force, and their wish to return to their homes was an important motive when Finland sought support from Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union.

In December 1941, the Finnish government formally annexed the town, along with the other areas that had been lost in the Moscow Peace Treaty.

About 70% of the evacuees from Finnish Karelia returned after the reconquest to rebuild their looted homes but were again evacuated after the Red Army's Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, timed to coincide with the Battle of Normandy.

Similar to many other areas along the Baltic Sea, Vyborg has a humid continental climate[36] (Dfb) with large temperature differences between summer and winter.

Tourism is increasingly important, and the Russian film festival Window to Europe takes place in the town each year.

An HVDC back-to-back facility for the exchange of electricity between the Russian and Finnish power grids was completed near Vyborg in 1982.

[citation needed] The Nord Stream 1 offshore pipeline runs from Vyborg compressor station at Portovaya Bay along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to Lubmin in Germany.

These are, for example, the Wiipurilaisen osakunnan kuoro of the University of Helsinki and the Viipurin Lauluveikot male choir,[43][44] with the latter founded in Vyborg in 1897.

Local self-government is carried out on the basis of the charter, which was adopted by the decision of the Council of Deputies of Vyborg dated 16 June 2010 No.

Also in September 2014, Gennady Alekseyevich Orlov assumed the position of head of the administration of the municipal formation "Vyborg District" of the Leningrad Oblast.

[53][54] The Viipuri Library by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto and the Hermitage-Vyborg Center are a reference point in the history of modern architecture.

Tourists can also visit the house where the founder of the Soviet state Vladimir Lenin prepared the Bolshevik revolution during his stay in Vyborg from 24 September to 7 October 1917.

Sprawling along the heights adjacent to the Gulf of Finland is Monrepos Park, one of the most spacious English landscape gardens in Eastern Europe.

The garden was laid out on behest of its owner, Baron Ludwig Heinrich von Nicolay, at the turn of the 19th century.

Previously, the estate belonged to the future king Frederick I (Maria Fyodorovna's brother), who called it Charlottendahl in honor of his second wife.