The Cathedral of St. Mary the Great is a catholic church and fortress built in the fifteenth century, which preserves a Romanesque appearance.
Its facade is flanked by two large towers topped by battlements and highlights its beautiful Gothic portal with archivolts with sculpted scenes from the Passion of Christ and sculptures of the Apostles. It is a Romanesque church with a Latin cross and inside is separated by three arches supported on pillars ships. It is classified as Imóvel of Public Interesse.
Inside, are the chapels of St. Bernard (by Fernão Brandão) and the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, attributed to stonemason, João Lopes the 'old'.
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.