Porkkala Lighthouse (

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

: ''Porkkalan majakka'',

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Porkala fyr''), also known as Kallbåda or Porkkala Kallbåda, is a lighthouse located in the municipality of

Kirkkonummi Kirkkonummi (; sv, Kyrkslätt, , Sweden ) is a Municipalities of Finland, municipality of inhabitants () in southern Finland. The literal meaning of the words "''Kirkkonummi''" and "''Kyrkslätt''" in English language, English is "church heath". ...

, Finland, approximately from the southern tip of the Porkkalanniemi peninsula, in the western part of the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...

. The lighthouse was built in 1920, to replace the earlier Porkkala-Rönnskär one. Porkkala-Kallbåda was the last in Finland to be intended for manual operation by lighthouse-keepers. For this reason, and due to the small area of the

skerry A skerry is a small rocky island, or islet, usually too small for human habitation. It may simply be a rocky reef. A skerry can also be called a low sea stack. A skerry may have vegetative life such as moss and small, hardy grasses. They a ...

it is built on, the lighthouse design incorporates integral accommodation and service facilities for two operators and their families, similar to those found in the

Bengtskär Lighthouse Bengtskär Lighthouse is located in the Archipelago Sea about 25 kilometers south west of Hanko, Finland. The lighthouse was built in 1906 on the Bengtskär skerry where it rises 52 meters above sea level and is the highest one in the Nordic ...

. It is built on massive

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

foundation, and constructed of red brick. After the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

, the Porkkalanniemi area was placed under the control of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. When the area was returned to Finland in 1955, the Porkkala-Kallbåda lighthouse was found to be in such state of disrepair as to be uninhabitable, and it was instead automated and operated remotely from

Harmaja Harmaja ( sv, Gråhara) is an island and a lighthouse outside Helsinki, south of the Suomenlinna sea fortress. The island has been functioning as a landmark since the 16th century. A landmark structure was built on the island in the 18th century ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. The lighthouse building is now leased to the Finnish mountaineer

Veikka Gustafsson Eero Veikka Juhani Gustafsson, known as Veikka Gustafsson (born 14 January 1968) is a Finnish mountaineer who has ascended all 14 eight-thousanders in the world without the use of supplemental oxygen. He is also known for presenting a TV travel ...

. The Porkkala Lighthouses form part of a milieu designated and protected by the

Finnish Heritage Agency The Finnish Heritage Agency ( fi, Museovirasto, sv, Museiverket), previously known in English as the National Board of Antiquities, preserves Finland's material cultural heritage: collects, studies and distributes knowledge of it. The agency is a ...

as a nationally important built cultural environment (''Valtakunnallisesti merkittävä rakennettu kulttuuriympäristö''). The area is also protected as a

grey seal The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is found on both shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. In Latin Halichoerus grypus means "hook-nosed sea pig". It is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or " ...

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

, for which reason the general public are not allowed to disembark onto the skerry.

References

{{Authority control Lighthouses in Finland Buildings and structures in Uusimaa Water transport in Finland Kirkkonummi Lighthouses completed in 1920