Nuestra Señora de la Asunción originates from the church of Santa Maria, which was built above the medieval mosque, near the town's Alcazaba, after the area had been conquered by Ferdinand III of Castile. The edifice is in Gothic-Renaissance style, with ogival arcades and pillars attributed to Hernán Ruiz the Elder, Hernán Ruiz the Younger (1556) and Hernán Ruiz III. The Gothic cross-vault ceiling is the oldest part of the church.
The Renaissance high altar (16th century) is attributed to Guillermo de Orta and Andrés de Castillejo, with paintings by Leonardo Enríquez de Navarra. Next to the altar is a small hexagonal chapel in Baroque style, from the early 18th century. Other artworks include the Roccoco case by the Cordoban goldsmith Damián de Castro, a large canvas of the Battle of Lepanto and a side Baroque portal in pink marble.
The tilting tower, begun in 1611 and finished in 1788, has a height of 55 meters.
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.