Kuorevesi church was completed in 1779 and it was built by the famous church builder Matti Pärnä (later Åkerblom). There may have been even three wooden churches before on the same site. The oldest known record of church dates from 1645. Kuorevesi church is one of the three so-called 'sacrifice churches' in Finland: it means local people have sacrificed money or other property for the church.
The interior dates from the restoration made in 1915. One of the church bells is donated by Queen Christina of Sweden in 1648. The valuable votive ship was donated by Markus Wiren in 1835. There is also a painting made by the famous painter Venny Soldan Brofelt.
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.