Hyrynsalmi church was built in 1786 and it was designed by Jacob Rijf. It is one of the most significant wooden churches built in Finland in the 18th century.The separate bell tower was erected in 1840. The altarpiece painted by J. G. Hedman dates back to 1830.
During World War II corpses from the Suomussalmi battlefield were brought into this church to be returned to their home parishes for burial. The church is one of the few buildings, which survived when German troops burnt the village in the Lapland War (1944).
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.