St Martin de la Bellouse dates from around 1225 with the centrally situated tower (similar to the one at the Forest Church), nave and chancel completed by 1250. The South porch was added around 1520 and until 1869, was the meeting place of the Douzaine. The church sits on an ancient holy site in attractive surroundings.
The church is well known for the female menhir stone figure (dating back to 2500 - 1800 BC) La Gran' Mere du Cimquiere which guards the entrance to the cemetery. In prehistoric times, the statue would have been idolised and in the 1700's it became the focus of witchcraft. Even in the 19th century this activity is thought to have continued and a church warden his reported to have split the stone, but locals later repaired it. Today some folk still place coins on her head or flowers around her neck for good luck. The Church has the only font in the island which dates from before the Reformation.
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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.