The Söderskär lighthouse ( Finnish: ''Söderskärin majakka'', Swedish: ''Söderskär fyr'') is a decommissioned 19th-century lighthouse in the outer

Porvoo Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...

archipelago of the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...

. It was built in 1862, replacing an earlier unilluminated

daymark A daymark is a navigational aid for sailors and pilots, distinctively marked to maximize its visibility in daylight. The word is also used in a more specific, technical sense to refer to a signboard or daytime identifier that is attached to ...

, automated in 1957, and decommissioned in 1989. The lighthouse is situated on a small

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be perman ...

, known as ''Majakkasaari'' ( 'Lighthouse Island'). Connected to it by a footbridge is another islet, ''Luotsisaari'' ('Pilot Island'), where a

pilot station Pilot Station ( esu, Tuutalgaq) is a city in Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 568 at the 2010 census, up from 550 in 2000. Geography Pilot Station is located at (61.936050, -162.883403), on the northern bank of ...

was based since before the construction of the current lighthouse. Three lighthouse keepers, with their families, and on-duty pilots used to reside on the islets, until the lighthouse was automated. The lighthouse was designed by architect Ernst Lohrmann. The tower is

octagon In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A ''regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, wh ...

al in shape, and comprises six storeys. The lighthouse is tall, and constructed of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) 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 cools and solidifies und ...

up to height, with brick-and-mortar above that. In the early years of the 20th century it was discovered that the tower swayed in strong wind, and was also leaning to one side; consequently, in 1914-1917 a steel and concrete '

girdle A belt, especially if a cord or rope, is called a girdle if it is worn as part of Christian liturgical vestments, or in certain historical, literary or sports contexts. Girdles are used to close a cassock in Christian denominations, including ...

' was added to stabilise the structure. The light source is above mean sea level. The light is equipped with a

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the ...

, and when commissioned, Söderskär was renowned for its exceptionally bright and long-range light. The lighthouse itself is now privately owned, having been sold by the government in 2003. The building is protected by the

Finnish Heritage Agency The Finnish Heritage Agency ( fi, Museovirasto, sv, Museiverket), previously known in English as the National Board of Antiquities, preserves Finland's material cultural heritage: collects, studies and distributes knowledge of it. The agency is ...

, meaning that no exterior or interior alterations are allowed, and the technical equipment may not be removed without permission.

Tove Jansson Tove Marika Jansson (; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking population of Finland, Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from ...

is said to have used Söderskär as a model when writing the lighthouse island of the book ''

Moominpappa at Sea ''Moominpappa at Sea'' ( Swedish: ''Pappan och havet'', literally "The Father and the Sea") is the eighth book in the Moomin books by Finnish author Tove Jansson. It is based primarily around the character of Moominpappa, who was heavily inspire ...

''.Tove Janssonin jäljillä Söderskarin majakalla
(in Finnish)

References

{{Lighthouse identifiers Lighthouses in Finland Lighthouses completed in 1862 Ernst Lohrmann buildings Water transport in Finland Buildings and structures in Porvoo