Utö lighthouse on a winter night. Snow flurries visible in the beams of light. Black and white photo.
Utö lighthouse on a winter night. Snow flurries visible in the beams of light. Black and white photo.

Utö

starting at €90.00

Surrounded by rocky and magnetically disturbed waters, Utö is known to have had a navigational aid as early as the 13th century. The first actual lighthouse was completed on the island in 1753, but it was blown up during the war of 1808–1809. A new square lighthouse was built in 1814, and it still serves as the core structure of the lighthouse. The people of Utö furnished the third floor of the tower as a church, which is also still in use. The lighthouse's lighting system has evolved through various stages from 10 tallow candles and mirrors to a functioning lens system, which today is powered by the national grid via a submarine cable.

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Surrounded by rocky and magnetically disturbed waters, Utö is known to have had a navigational aid as early as the 13th century. The first actual lighthouse was completed on the island in 1753, but it was blown up during the war of 1808–1809. A new square lighthouse was built in 1814, and it still serves as the core structure of the lighthouse. The people of Utö furnished the third floor of the tower as a church, which is also still in use. The lighthouse's lighting system has evolved through various stages from 10 tallow candles and mirrors to a functioning lens system, which today is powered by the national grid via a submarine cable.

The LIGHTHOUSE stands at the edge of the world. The stairs smoothed by thousands of steps lead to the lantern room. From there, you can see the shadows of the clouds reflected in the mirror of the sea – and the small world of the lighthouse island or cape. In Finland lighthouses began to be left without keepers or even become completely unnecessary from the 1050s. It was not until the turn of the millennium that the cultural and architectural value of these sea markers, abandoned to the mercy of the weather and vandalism, began to be understood and efforts were initiated to save them. Everyone who has participated in saving even one of our lighthouses has given a gift to all Finns.

Discover my work The Sea That Rinses My Feet  (texts in Finnish, English, and Swedish)

Discover my book Kuohu – Hooked on the Archipelago (texts in Finnish or Swedish)