Senarega Castle was built in the 12th century by the Senarega family. It had originally a tower, to which the lower block was added during the 15th century, highlighting the simple square shape of the whole block.
On the ground floor there is a large fireplace for heating the room, while on the upper floor there would have been a wooden oven for cooking food, and from here the tower could also be accessed. In addition, the building contained various rooms used as storerooms and cellars and stories of secret passages that connected the castle to the church of Santa Maria Assunta have been handed down.
The village and castle were acquired from the Senarega family by the Fieschi family in 1685, and were then sought after by Genoa in the 18th century, but they remained in the hands of the Counts of Lavagna until the imperial funds were suppressed by Napoleon Bonaparte.
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.