The Breno castle rises on a hill overlooking the town: the building was erected in the 12th century, then turned into a military stronghold at the time of the Venetian Republic (1400-1500) and finally, after being abandoned in 1598, it was reused as a stone quarry.
The castle however rises on a much more ancient site: probably the place where in the 10th-9th century BCE a prehistoric community settled.
You can reach the castle with a short walk (about 15 minutes) from the centre of Breno: the perimeter is closed by a battlemented boundary wall and by two towers. Inside you can admire the remains of the St. Michele church, of Longobard origin, then enlarged in the Romanesque period. The other buildings, the only remains of which are mostly the outside walls and the cellars with barrel vaults, were added during the Venetian reign.
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.