Lesina Cathedral (Cattedrale della Santissima Annunziata) is a Roman Catholic church and former cathedral dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.
There was a church on this site from c. 600 which served as the cathedral of the former Diocese of Lesina until it was suppressed in favour of the Diocese of Larino in 1567. Rebuilt over the centuries, the building was destroyed by an earthquake in 1630. By the 1650s, another church had been built, dedicated to the Annunciation and consecrated in 1691, which was replaced in its turn in 1828-1837. In 1922 the roof fell in, and was not rebuilt until the 1950s.
The church has a single nave with two side chapels. The interior has frescoes depicting the Life of Christ by Bocchetti Gaetano.
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.