Today Vyborg is an industrial and cultural center, the international harbor, and an important railway and highway point.
The sea port is situated on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, 120 km north-east of St. Petersburg. It is known as one of the largest historical towns in Russia. The history of the town began with the construction of a castle in 1293 by the Swedes, when they conquered Karelia Isthmus.In the year of 1403 Vyborg got the official status of a town. The castle of middlecentury construction and engineering fortifications defined the town as a town-fortress.Later Vyborg developed into a center of trade between the Novgorod merchants and Karelian hunters.In the beginning of the 18th century during the war due to the actions of Tsar Peter I against Swedish soldiers, Vyborg was taken by Russia. It had been developing as the center of commerce simultaneously with St. Petersburg .

Because of its geographical position the cultures of east and west meet in Vyborg. From the Middle Ages to the Second World War Vyborg had been in one way or another connected with Finland (our country has been both under Swedish and Russian rule) but after the Winter War, in Moscow on 13th March 1940 the town without any inhabitants was ceded to the Soviet Union. The Finns took the town back in the Continuation War in 1940 but in the end lost it again - now permanently - in the summer of 1944, and the civilians were evacuated from the town.

Until 1939, Vyborg (situated 50 km from Lappeenranta) was part of Finland being the second largest city in the country. It was the administrative, commercial and cultural center in eastern Finland. It was also the most international town in Finland as it was populated by Finns, Swedes, Russians and Germans.

The town developed as a forpost of Russia in the north-west part of the country and was charged by famous generals Alexander Suvorov and Michail Kutusov. The Helsinki - Moscow highway passes through the city. In Vyborg you can definetly feel its history and the national cultures of swedish, finnish and russian people. Foreign visitors can be seen here at any time of the year. The city is visited each year by over 600.000 tourists from abroad. The people of Vyborg are tirelessly enhancing their cities appearance.

The South Karelian Museum (whose task is also to collect and to do research work concerning the ceded south Karelian area) houses the collection of the Vyborg Museum Foundation and the Tyrgils Museet Society. In 1985 they started to collect the miniature portraying Vyborg of 1939 piece by piece.

Old Vyborg is being carefully preserved and restored while the new Vyborg is constantly expanding its boundaries.