Lisbon, Portugal
1502
Lisbon, Portugal
1389
Lisbon, Portugal
12th century
Lisbon, Portugal
1730
Lisbon, Portugal
12th century
Lisbon, Portugal
1506
Lisbon, Portugal
16th century
Lisbon, Portugal
13th century
Viana do Castelo, Portugal
1400
Lisbon, Portugal
1779-1790
Sintra, Portugal
13th century
Sintra, Portugal
1560
Towering 52 meters above the sea, Bengtskär lighthouse is the tallest one in Scandinavia. The building started in in 1905 after the shipwreck of S/S Helsingfors and was completed in 1906. The lighthouse was designed by architect Florentin Granholm. On December a special petrol lantern, designed and built in Paris, was brought to Bengtskär and installed atop the tower.
German fleet bombarded Bengstkär in the First World War in 1914. Since the Gulf of Finland was heavily mined, it was not until 1919 that the surrounding seas were declared safe for shipping, that the light was lit again.
After the war the military value of Bengtskär increased as part of the defence system of independent Finland. In Second World War (1941) Soviet Union made a suprise attack to island. After a bloody battle, the small Finnish garrison emerged victorious. Intermittent repairs to the facility continued during the post-war period.