The Duži Monastery is a Serbian Orthodox monastery dedicated to the Intercession of the Theotokos and located 10 kilometres west of the city of Trebinje in southern Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was first mentioned in historical sources in 1694, when it served as a refuge for monks from the nearby Tvrdoš Monastery which was then destroyed by Venetians during the Morean War. That year the see of the Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Zahumlje and Herzegovina was transferred from Tvrdoš to Duži, where it remained until 1777, when the see was relocated to Mostar.
During the latter half of the 19th century, the monks of Duži supported the uprisings of Herzegovinian Serbs against the Ottomans, who therefore damaged and looted the monastery in 1858, 1861, and 1877. Mićo Ljubibratić, a leader of the Herzegovina Uprising of 1875–1877, had his headquarters at the Duži Monastery. In 1878, after the Congress of Berlin, Bosnia and Herzegovina were occupied by Austria-Hungary. The monastery was severely damaged in a fire on 6 September 1886. Its renovation was supported by the Austro-Hungarian government of Bosnia-Herzegovina with fund of 200,000 guldens. A bronze plaque was placed in the renovated church, with text in Serbian expressing gratitude to Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph.
After World War I, the monastery was inhabited by Russian monks who fled from Russia in the wake of the October Revolution. In 1935, they painted the walls of the church with frescoes in a Russian style. In 1941, three of these monks were killed by Yugoslav Partisans. The monastery was deserted after World War II, and it fell into disrepair. Between 1954 and 1958, it was used by the Yugoslav People's Army to house soldiers. In 1959, it became a nunnery, and the nuns gradually restored the dilapidated monastery. During the Yugoslav Wars in the 1990s, it was shelled by the Croatian Army, but without much damage to it. Today, the economy of the Duži Monastery involves beekeeping and the production of wine, rakia, and dairy products.
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.