Construction of Château de Mérens castle dates from the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th centuries. It was altered in the early 17th century.
The hub of the castle corresponds to the original Gascon structure; the south west square tower belongs to this period of construction. At the start of the 17th century, the castle was furnished with a new system of defence, including a round walk. At the same time, windows were added and the internal layout altered. In the west elements of the mediaeval enceinte can be seen in the wine cellar. Works carried out between 1604 and 1613 concentrated on providing windows and on doubling the height of the east façade. The castle was later converted for agricultural use.
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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.