- Kõpu lighthouse
(65 km).
Height and appearance
Kõpu lighthouse was built to the top of the highest hill of Hiiumaa, 67 meters. The height of the building is 36 meters, light is 102.6 meters above the sea level, making it highest lighthouse light of
Baltic Sea . Lighthouse has the shape of a tetrahedral prism with massive counterforts in the directions of principal divisions on the compass.History
The construction of a lighthouse in the area was requested in 1490 by the
Hanseatic League to reduce the number of shipwrecks on theHiiu Shoal (previously known as "Neckmansgrund") and to warn ships away from shoreline.Tallinn 'stown council was granted permission by the bishop ofBishopric of Ösel-Wiek in 1500 to erect a lighthouse.Building started in 1505 and lasted with interruptions for twenty-six years. The light on top of the tower was first lit in August 1531, however, the lighthouse was considered ready from 1513.Fact|date=October 2008 In 1659 the lighthouse's size was raised to its current height.
Russian administration started to run the lighthouse in 1805. Major reconstruction of the tower was started in 1810 . In its southern counterfort, a stone staircase was built and two subsidiary rooms were restored. A wooden structure with lamp-chimneys was built for the lantern and its optical devices in 1845. The counterfort with the staircase was roofed with wooden boards in 1869.
Lighthouse was bombed by German planes in 1941, but only the lantern structure and the optical system were destroyed.
In the beginning of 1970s and, later in 1979-81 the outside walls of the tower were repeatedly repaired because of progressing deterioration, finally 1989-1990 a reinforced concrete shirt was built to support the foundation and walls.
References
* [http://www.hiiumaa.ee/tuletorn/tour/k6pulight.html Kõpu Lighthouse]
* [http://www.korgessaare.ee/index.php?idc=1081024100011041153 Kõpu lighthouse]
* [http://195.50.203.61:8010/TORNID?Lan=668 Lighthouse in the navigational signs registry]ee also
*
Hiiumaa
*Ristna lighthouse
*Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek
*Hanseatic League
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