Between 1993 and 1996, several archaeological excavation campaigns at the site of Las Eretas partially unearthed the urban fabric of a fortified village from the Early Iron Age, the most significant structural remains of which included the wall and towers that defended it, and several dwellings built around a street and public square which facilitated pedestrian traffic inside the fortress.
The protohistoric village with its houses dates from the 6th to the 4th centuries BC and are typical of the Urnfield culture. Today there is a museum where thematic areas have brief text with illustrations – maps, photographs and drawings –, and a display cases showing original archaeological pieces, both from the Las Eretas site and other Navarrese Iron Age villages which have been investigated.
References: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.