San Siro di Struppa is a Romanesque-style church in Struppa, a neighborhood of Genoa. Benedictine abbey was founded here in the Middle Ages, entitled to St. Syrus of Genoa, who, according to the tradition, was born here. A church existed here, most likely, since the 5th century AD, but it is documented only in 955. In 1025 bishop Landulf I of Genoa gave it the Benedictines.
The church was most likely rebuilt in the 12th century, as testified by its Genoese Romanesque style. It received a series of modifications in the 16th century, in the wake of the new procedures established by the Council of Trent. Baroque elements were added in the 17th century. The Romanesque forms were restored in the 20th century.
The church was built in sandstone, without external decorative elements aside from the Lombard bands of the upper edges of the walls, present on every side. The central rose window of the façade was restored in the 20th century, replacing the Baroque window. In that occasion were also restored the triple mullioned windows of the bell tower, which has a height of 32 m.
The interior has a nave and two aisles, divided by sturdy columns without decorations. The main piece of art is a polyptych of St. Syrus (1516), once attributed to Teramo Piaggio, now assigned to Pier Francesco Sacchi.
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.