Meet Paula - the Lighthouse Keeper
To Finns, visiting Bengtskär lighthouse is almost like going on a pilgrimage. It’s something everyone has to do at some point in their lives. Paula Wilson, the lighthouse keeper there explains the magic.
– I first visited Bengtskär in summer 1968 when I’d just got engaged to my husband. It immediately had an indelible impact on me. The lonely island, miles from anywhere, felt like an enchanted place. As if you were out on the open sea, yet with your feet still firmly on dry land.
– By the early 1990s, the once impressive lighthouse on Bengtskär had badly fallen into disrepair, having stood empty for 25 years. My husband and I urged Turku University, the owners of the building, to renovate the site and so it gained a new lease of life. We have since restored the edifice to its original condition and we rented the site ourselves to run as a museum for visitors, while we’ve now been living here ourselves for 16 years. We look after the lighthouse and we run a small hotel in the building, with the bonus of a granite sauna built in 1907 that we heat up for our guests in the evenings.
Coast and Archipelago
Coastal Finland with its stunningly beautiful archipelago offers a variety of fascinating destinations that are easy to reach.
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