Stora Karlsö Lighthouse ( sv, Stora Karlsö fyr), is a Swedish lighthouse on
Stora Karlsö
Stora Karlsö is an island off the west coast of Gotland, Sweden; part of Eksta socken. It is mostly known for its rich birdlife with large colonies of common guillemot, and flora. Stora Karlsö is a nature reserve, the second oldest in the worl ...
island off
Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to th ...
in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...
. It was built in 1887 and resulted in the first permanent settlement on the island in modern times. A house for the
lighthouse keeper
A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...
was built in the 1930s. In 1974, the lighthouse became fully automated when a cable for electricity was laid to the island and the last permanent residents left the island.
In 2010, the lighthouse was decommissioned and replaced by a