The Castle of Higuera de Vargas, also known as the Castle of El Coso, is a 14th-century fortress. The castle was initially owned by the Knights Templar through a donation by King Alfonso IX, but they held it for only a few years. In 1374, King Alfonso II donated it to Alfonso Fernández de Vargas. Alongside the fortification, a village grew that took the name of the family who owned the castle. Ultimately, it became the possession of the Duke of Feria when the previous owners did not have a direct male heir.
The castle It has a square-shaped plan, and only one of the octagonal section towers remains, out of the four that, it seems, were once located at the corners of the courtyard. Most of the construction is made of rubble, stonework, and ashlar. Like many castles in the region, it has rows of bricks that serve a decorative purpose, situated beneath the battlements and merlons. The northeast and northwest sides, as well as the southwest side, are mostly concealed by houses that have been built adjacent to the castle. Only on the southeast side, facing the town square, does it have the appearance of a palatial residence.
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.