The wooden church of Soini municipality was built by Yrjö Lepistö and in completed in 1793. The present appearance date mainly from the restoration made in 1885. The bell tower was erected in 1795. There is an old cemetery surrounding the church with a monument erected for people died of starvation in the 19th century. National Board of Antiques has defined Soini church site as a national built heritage.
The unique detail in the Soini Church is wooden “poor woman” statue. Typically these statues are always been men, but the one in Soini is the only remaining woman sculpture in Finland.
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.