Santiago del Arrabal was built in 1245-1248 at the orders of Sancho II on the site of an older church and a mosque that is known to have been used since 1125. Many characteristics of the mosque have remained in the present building which is built in the Mudéjar architectural style. The church is named after Saint James (Santiago) of the outskirts (Arrabal). The patrons of the church during its foundation were members of the Diosdado family, knight commanders of the Order of Santiago.
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.