Utvær Lighthouse ( no, Utvær fyr) is the westernmost

coastal lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It is located in the western part of

Solund Solund is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sogn. Solund is the westernmost island municipality in Norway. Holmebåen on the island of Steinsøy is the westernmost point in all of Norw ...

municipality in

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county.

History

It was first lit in 1900 and it was listed as a protected site in 1999. The surrounding area is protected as a

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 ...

. It is located on a small, rocky island about due west of the island of

Ytre Sula Ytre Sula (also called Nordviksula) is a mountain in the municipality of Surnadal in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Location The peak lies just north of the village of Todalsøra and the Todalsfjorden. Ytre Sula, meaning "Outer Sula", lie ...

. The site is accessible only by boat, but guided tours are available. The tall, round,

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...

tower is painted red. At the top sits a light that emits a white flash every 30 seconds at an elevation of above sea level. The lighthouse marks the line of transition between the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

to the southwest and the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea ( no, Norskehavet; is, Noregshaf; fo, Norskahavið) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to ...

to the northwest. The light station was heavily damaged in an air raid during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1945. Many of the buildings were burned, but the historic tower was spared. Utvær lighthouse is currently displayed on the 50-kroner Norwegian banknote.

Gallery

File:Utvær fyr 2.jpg, Closeup of the tower File:Utvær fyr 7.jpg, View of the lighthouse complex File:Utvær fyr 4.jpg, View of the lighthouse and the local village File:Utvær fyr 8.jpg, Alternate view

References

External links

Norsk Fyrhistorisk Forening
Lighthouses completed in 1900 Lighthouses in Vestland Listed lighthouses in Norway Solund {{Norway-lighthouse-stub

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links