Lighthouse of the Week, January 26-February 1, 2019: Lõu Lighthouse, Estonia

I found this lighthouse by going to Helsinki and then searching for "lighthouse" on Google Maps.  This one caught my eye, even though Estonia (across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki) has quite a few lighthouses, several of which are admittedly more striking than this one -- so I'm coming back.

But this one caught my eye because of its name, which is simply Lõu. And it's on the island of Saaremaa (which could easily loan a vowel or two), and it is actually more across the Baltic Sea from Stockholm than across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki, because that lies to the northeast.

Here's the location.

Let's learn more about it!

Kõrgus alusest 9m
Kõrgus merepinnast 11m
Ehitusaeg 1921
Rekonstrueerimisaeg 1934

Lõu oli ehitatud, et juhatada meremehed halbades ilmastikuoludes Lõpe lahe varjulistesse soppidesse tormivarju. Samuti moodustavad Anseküla ja Lõu tuletornid ühtse liitsihi.


Oh, you don't speak Estonian? Well, neither do I.

Height from the base 9m
11m above sea level
Built in 1921
Reconstruction time 1934

The chin was built to guide sailors to storm shelter in the shady marshes of the Gulf of Fin in bad weather. Also, the Anseküla and Lõu lighthouses form a unified leader.


So Lõu translates to "chin", apparently.

Here's a little more information from the Lighthouse Directory:

1934 (station established 1921). Active; focal plane 11 m (36 ft); four quick flashes every 15 s, white to the west northwest along the range line, red to the left and green to the right of the range line. 9 m (30 ft) round cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and gallery, painted white with green and yellow trim.  

 Located just off the beach on the west (Baltic Sea) side of the Sõrve peninsula, north of the village of Lõu and 3.1 km (2 mi) west northwest of the Anseküla Light.

I'm not sure what "unified leader" means, but Lõu and Anseküla lighthouses are on opposite sides of the narrowest part of the peninsula.

Here's a video about the island of Saaremaa.  The lighthouse appears at the 5:15 mark.

Here (well, actually right below here) are the pictures.