Bengtskär is a Finnish island southwest of Hanko, and part of the municipality of

Kimitoön Kimitoön (; ; ) is a municipality and island of Finland. It was created on 1 January 2009, when the municipalities of Dragsfjärd, Kimito and Västanfjärd were consolidated into a single municipality. The former municipal councils accepted the ...

. This rocky island can be reached by

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

from the village of

Kasnäs Kasnäs is a village in the municipality of Kimitoön, Finland. It belongs to the archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ...

. The island has an area of about two hectares, ''Elina Auri.'' Ilman kiinteää tieyhteyttä olevat pysyvästi asutut saaret. (fi) Retrieved 4 May 2015. and only a small part of it is covered with vegetation, the rest is a naked

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

. The Bengtskär Lighthouse on the skerry is the highest one in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

, with a tower height of (). The lighthouse is owned by the Foundation of the

University of Turku The University of Turku (, shortened ''UTU'') is a multidisciplinary public university with eight faculties located in the city of Turku in southwestern Finland. The university also has campuses in Rauma and Pori and research stations in Kevo ...

. Annually the island attracts over 13,000 tourists. On 26 July 1941, during 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 during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

Soviet troops attempted to capture and blow up the lighthouse, but the Finnish garrison managed to repel the attack. The lighthouse was damaged but not destroyed.

References

External links

Bengtskär Lighthouse website
Finnish islands in the Baltic Kimitoön Landforms of Southwest Finland Skerries {{WesternFinland-geo-stub

See also

References

External links