Kalela is a former wilderness atelier of Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931), a Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. His work was considered very important for the Finnish national identity.
Kalela is one of the largest nineteenth-century log buildings in Finland whose structure remains intact. It is designed by Gallen-Kallela himself and was completed in 1895. Gallen-Kallela family lived in Kalela several times between 1895 and 1921. Akseli Gallen-Kallela painted there his most famous Kalevala-themed paintings and designed textiles, furnitures and frescoes to l'Exposition Universelle, The Paris World Expo in 1900.
Today Kalela is a museum with temporary art exhibitions. It’s open in summer season (closed in 2011).
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.