Parades were the highlights of the life in the fortress Drill fields were often the hierarchical focal points of the garrison area, around which the most important buildings of the garrison were grouped. However, the drill field of Iso-Mustasaari is an exception to this pattern, typical of the 19th century.

An open drill field

Drill performed in an open field played a central role in the 19th century Russian military training. In accordance with regulations, soldiers were trained for parades rather than for warfare conducted in terrain. In the field, rifle drills, turns, bayonet fighting, parade march, aiming and shooting, among other things, were trained.

In the standard drawings prepared by the Chief Engineering Administration in the 1870s, the parade field was placed in the middle of the barracks. In these plans, the square constituted the facade of the barracks area, representing military hierarchy. The position of officers was emphasised by placing the buildings of the commander, headquarters and the main guard on one side of the square, and the other socially important buildings on the other sides. Supply buildings and the barracks of the rank and file were placed behind the more significant buildings. In later plans, drill fields were placed informally on the outskirts of barracks, with the terrain and the demands of the army activities guiding the placement of buildings. The drill field was built in a location in which provision magazines and small wooden buildings had been located during the Swedish era. In many ways, the drill field in Viapori did not conform to the standard drawings. It is not a standard square delineated by buildings placed in accordance with a strict grid plan; rather, it is a free-form area adapted to the contours of the terrain, loosely surrounded by hierarchically important buildings.