The Archiprestal Church of Our Lady of the Angels is Chelva’s most iconic monument and is considered one of the best works of Valencian Baroque. This cathedral-sized church was begun in 1626 and its construction lasted eighty years.
The altarpiece façade, in Mannerist style, is a monumental work of masonry that alternates between the four classical orders (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian and Composite).
Juan Bautista Pérez Castiel is credited with the exuberant interior baroque decoration, the large semi-spherical dome and the bell tower, considered the first of the Valencian Baroque. Almost 60 meters high, this tower culminates with an original clock, owned by the municipality, which indicates the hours, days of the week and the month.
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.