Early on in the Great Northern War, Russia took advantage of Swedish weakness in Ingria (sv: "Ingermanland") and captured the area near the Neva River as well as the Swedish forts, Nyen and Nöteborg, built to protect it. In 1703, Peter the Great founded his new capital, Saint Petersburg, in that easternmost corner of the Gulf of Finland. In the approach to it he built the fortified naval base of Kronstadt. Russia soon became a maritime power and a force to be reckoned with in the Baltic Sea. The situation posed a threat to Sweden, which until that time had been the dominant power in the Baltic. This was visibly demonstrated by the use of naval forces in the Russian capture of Viborg in 1710. The main Swedish naval base at Karlskrona was too far to the south to meet Sweden's new needs for its navy in the 18th century, which often resulted in Swedish ships reaching the coast of Finland only after Russian ships and troops had either started or completed their spring campaigns.