Restoration of the Korela Fortress, a federal cultural heritage site, has begun in the city of Priozersk, Leningrad Region. The fortress was first mentioned in 1294, and a new fortress was built by Novgorodians in 1310.

During the restoration of this unique fortress, temporary buttresses will be used to support the stone walls from the outside (see photo for the foundations for installing the buttresses). Wooden structures inside the historic buildings will also support the walls from the inside.

A buttress, from the French contre-force meaning "counteracting force," is a vertical support that enhances the primary load-bearing capacity of a building. Its main purpose is to absorb and compensate for horizontal loads (thrust) arising from walls, vaults, arches, ceilings, or soil pressure. Buttresses were first encountered in ancient architecture. Mesopotamia since the second half of the 4th millennium BC.

Furthermore, as reported by the Ural State Architectural Academy, buttresses are a fairly common method of strengthening during restoration. A buttress can only function effectively if its foundation is properly stable. Experience shows that many historic buttresses, erected both before and after the onset of deformation, fail to perform their functions, existing independently of the structure they are strengthening.

The temporary wooden buttresses installed last year at the Tkhaba Yerdy Temple in mountainous Ingushetia also provide support for the temple's weakened walls and vaults, both externally and internally. The installation of the buttresses was as timely as possible, as subsequent archaeological research revealed the absence of foundations under the temple's southern wall.