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Founded: 19th centuryCategory: Historic city squares, old towns and villages in Finland
Historical period: Russian Grand Duchy (Finland)
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The city of Raahe was established in 1649 by Pietari (Per) Brahe, the General-Governor of Finland. Due the harbour Raahe began to grow and prosper in the 18th century. In 1791 the city was finally got the right to freedom of sailing abroad. The main export goods were tar, pitch and lumber.
in 1810 the great fire destroyed a third of all buildings in the town. In the post-fire reconstruction Raahe got the present marketplace, “Pekkatori”. Next disaster was the Crimean War in 1854-1855. British troops landed in Raahe in late May 1854 and burned the dockyard, the court of tar, 11 ships, 25 000 barrels of tar and other property. Fortunately the wind came from the mainland to the sea, which is why the city itself was spared from destruction. Despite the attack late 1800's was the heyday of city. During 1867-1875 Raahe was the largest merchant shipping city in Finland.
Today so-called Old Raahe is one of the most well-preserved wooden towns in Finland. There are about 150 old houses and 200 outbuildings mainly from the 19th century.
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.