Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Lighthouse of the Week, January 12-18, 2020: Utö Lighthouse, Finland


OK, this one is a couple of days late -- I'll get back on schedule.   I decided to revisit Finland for lighthouses, and this one jumped out visually.  It's basically a red-and-white box with a light on top.  But as we'll see, it's pretty famous.

Here's where it is, beyond the inspecific Finland:  A map to find it in Finland,  Basically, it's just above the point where the Baltic Sea divides into the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland.

I went straight to the Lighthouse Directory, and here is some of the information from the entry for Utö.
"1814 (station established 1753). Active; focal plane 40 m (131 ft); two white flashes every 12 s. 24 m (79 ft) square granite tower with lantern and gallery. Lighthouse painted with red and white vertical stripes; lantern painted red; lantern dome is greenish metallic. ... The first lighthouse on the island was destroyed during the Russian-Swedish War in 1808. As the most substantial building on the island, the present lighthouse served as a church and town hall for the islanders during the mid nineteenth century."
So now, pictures and a video.




















A model lighthouse:

























On the coins of the realm.



















And here's the video:




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