Galeras Fort, locally known as Fuerte de Galeras, lies on a mountain next to the city of Cartagena. Plans to fortify this, 219 meter high, mountain date back to the 16th century. Galeras Fort however was built between the mid-18th century and 1777 by the Croatian military engineer Mateo Wodopich. It was designed by the military engineer Pedro Martín-Paredes Cermeño in the style of eclectic Neoclassicism according to the principles of the Frenchified Spanish School. It had to guard the Military Arsenal of Cartagena and was connected to the city walls. It is situated on a mountain between Atalaya Fort to the north and the Fajardo Battery to the south.
The quadrangular fort saw action during both the Peninsular War, between 1808-1814, and the Cantonal Revolution in 1873-74. In the 20th century it gradually lost its military importance but still served as a military prison.
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.