Château de Colombières dates back to the 11th century. It was a fortress occupied by William, Raoul and Baudouin of Colombières, comrades in arms of William the Conqueror during the invasion of England in 1066. However the oldest parts of the present castle date back to the end of the 14th century. The wealthy Bacon du Molay built the fortress with the defensive architecture: a quadrangle flanked by four huge towers with arrow slits, a 9ft-thick and 36ft-high surrounding wall topped with a machicolation floor (a gallery with openings in the floor, through which stones or burning objects could be droppers on attackers), a moat and a drawbridge.
At the end of Hundred Years War (1328-1453), the battle of Formigny in 1450 ushered in a period of peace. Two elegant Renaissance towers were added to the castle by this family who owned Colombières fief for three centuries. During the Wars of Religion (1562-1598) fighting resumed. In 1562, the lord and master of Colombières, François de Bricqueville, one of the most dangerous protestant leaders of Lower Normandy is unfortunately remembered for plundering Bayeux Cathedral’s treasure and burning many precious items and books. He then laid siege to the town of Saint-Lô, took the Lord Bishop prisoner and desecrated the chapel of Colombières.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the fortress underwent several architectural changes in order to make the main building more comfortable: the surrounding wall was demolished on one side, one of the towers which had been partially destroyed was rebuilt as a square-shaped donjon, the windows were enlarged, the chapel desecrated by François de Bricqueville was rebuilt by his grandson Cyrus Antoine, who converted to Catholicism in 1678. In 1759, the fortified castle became the property of the Girardin family, related by marriage to the present owners, the Maupeou d’Ableiges family. During this period the fortress was then transformed along classical lines into a beautiful residence.
Today Château de Colombières is a hotel. Also guided tours are available.
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.