Kõpu Lighthouse
Location | Hiiumaa, Mägipe, Hiiumaa Parish, Estonia |
---|---|
Coordinates | 58°54′57″N 22°11′59″E / 58.915967°N 22.199683°E |
Tower | |
Constructed | 1531 |
Construction | monolithic limestone and granite boulder tower |
Automated | 1963 |
Height | 37.7 m (124 ft) |
Shape | square tower with four buttresses, balcony and lantern room |
Markings | white tower with counterforts, red lantern room |
Power source | mains electricity |
Heritage | architectural monument |
Light | |
Focal height | 103.6 m (340 ft) |
Light source | LED |
Intensity | 2,100,000 candela |
Range | 26 nmi (48 km; 30 mi) |
Characteristic | Fl(2) W 10s |
Estonia no. | 668[1] |
Kõpu Lighthouse (Estonian: Kõpu tuletorn) is one of the best-known symbols and tourist sites on the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. It is one of the oldest lighthouses in the world,[A] having been in continuous use since its completion in 1531.[2][3] The lighthouse is quite unique with its shape and exceptional among lighthouses because it has gone through all the stages from a medieval landmark up to a modern electrified lighthouse.[4]
The lighthouse marks the Hiiu Shoal (Estonian: Hiiu madal, Swedish: Neckmansgrund) and warns ships away from the shoreline. Light from Kõpu Lighthouse can be used for navigation as far as 26 nautical miles (48 km; 30 mi) away.[1]
Kõpu Lighthouse was previously known by its Swedish name, Övre Dagerort.[5]
Location and design
The lighthouse is built at the top of the highest hill of Hiiumaa island, Tornimägi (English: Tower Hill, 68 metres (223 ft)).[B] The height of the building itself is 37.7 metres (124 ft), and the light is 103.6 metres (340 ft)[1] above sea level, making it the highest coastal light on the Baltic Sea.[6]
Kõpu Lighthouse has a shape of a
The body of the tower contains roughly 5,000 cubic metres (6,500 cu yd) of stone, with its total weight reaching 12,000 tonnes (26,000,000 lb).[5] Local limestone and glacial erratic stones were used as building material.[8]
Originally, the tower was solid stone without any rooms and no light was burned at it;[4] when it was equipped with light, the top of the lighthouse was reached using external wooden stairs, which were later replaced with iron ones. During reconstruction in the 1800s, a stairway and two rooms were cut into the tower.[6]
Construction and history
Construction of the original tower
The most important east–west shipping lane in the
At a meeting of the Hanseatic League in Lübeck in 1499, they applied once more to the bishop for permission to build a beacon. On 20 April 1500 Bishop Johannes III Orgas (John Orgies) agreed to allow a massive stone pillar without any openings. To cover the building costs, Tallinn city council had to establish a special lighthouse tax until the sum was complete.[9][10]
Building of the beacon was supposed to start in the summer of 1500,[C] but construction was stopped when Wolter von Plettenberg, master of the Livonian Order, started a war which lasted until 1503. In the spring of 1504, purchase and delivery of the building materials began, but in the autumn of the same year the plague broke out, stopping the work once more. Building work was discontinued and alderman Lambert Ottingk, the magistrate in charge of the building, died in Tallinn on 28 December 1505.[9]
The account ledgers of Tallinn city council contain entries about the Kõpu Lighthouse from 1507 to 1533, showing money was spent on the beacon of Hiiumaa from 13 May 1514 until 12 October 1532. The amounts show the majority of the work took place from 1514 to 1519; later there are only a couple of bigger expenditures on the beacon.[9] But as completion of the beacon in Hiiumaa has been mentioned in the resolution of Wolmar Landtag in 25 February 1532 the actual time of completion and beginning of use of the tower must be 1531.[2] Somewhere after 1538 height of the tower was increased.[4]
The tower was unlit for more than one hundred years[4] and was visible on a clear day up to 20 kilometres (12 mi) offshore.
Reconstruction into a lighthouse and rebuilding
In August 1649 an open iron fire grate was affixed to the top of the tower and a wooden staircase was built to its outside wall. Originally it was planned to burn coal in the lighthouse, but due to high transport costs of coal, wood was used instead.[9]
The fire consumed up to 1000
Count
The
In 1845, a crack in the upper part of the lighthouse called for extensive reconstruction, which saw part of the tower pulled down and rebuilt. The tower now gained its final height. A wooden structure with lamp-chimneys was built for the lantern and its optical devices.[5][9]
The lighthouse came under navy control, and the first maintenance rules were laid down. The fire was to be lit and extinguished in strict accordance to sunrise and sunset. In cloudy weather lighthouse keepers were to consult a calendar for the necessary data. At that time, the fire was kept burning nightly from 1 July to 1 May—10 months of the year.[9]
As part of his naval reforms,
The buttress with the staircase was roofed with wooden boards and tin sheets in 1869. A telegraph installation and rescue stations were established near the lighthouse in the same year; the first-established worked until 1898 when it was replaced by a telephone.[5]
Twentieth century
A new light system was bought at the 1900
The light system was set in rotation by a suspended 400 kilograms (880 lb) load; it needed to be rewound every two hours.[5] It was installed during repairs of 1901.
German bombers targeted the lighthouse in August 1941, though only the lantern structure and optical system were destroyed.[9][10]
After
Due to deterioration, the lighthouse underwent frequent repairs; major repairs were in completed in 1957 and 1970.[5] During the repairs in years 1978–81 on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of the lighthouse, it was covered with a reinforced concrete shell and perchlorovinyl paint. As there was no white colour available, yellow was used. The paint blocked the way for humidity to escape from the body of the tower and water collecting in the inner surface of the cement mortar, freezing and melting, started to damage the already old and degraded lime mortar. By the mid-80s cracks appeared in the surface of the lighthouse and pieces of the cement mortar and smaller stones started falling off. During 1987 and 1988 two corners of the tower collapsed and emergency restoration was started. During the years 1989–90, to prevent collapsing of the lighthouse, a 15 centimetres (5.9 in) thick reinforced concrete shell was built to support the foundation and walls up to the top of the buttresses. The tower was painted with whitewash.[15] Air channels were left in the concrete for ventilating the structure.[7]
The lantern room of the lighthouse was renovated in 2001[13] and the tower was last repainted, with whitewash, in 2012.[16] In 2020 a new powerful LED light source was installed in the existing lantern along with a new electronic control system. As of 2020[update], it is the most powerful LED-lighthouse light in the world with an intensity of 2,100,000 candela.[17]
Current status
The lighthouse is still in use as an
Due to its enduring popularity and memorable shape, it is often used as a symbol of Hiiumaa. A major tourist attraction, the tower has been open for tourists since 1999. Together with the nearby Ristna lighthouse, the Kõpu Lighthouse was commemorated on a postage stamp in 2000.[19]
See also
Notes
- Lighthouse of Genoa.
References
- ^ a b c d "Kõpu lighthouse". Database of Aids to Navigation. Estonian Maritime Administration. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Baltic Sea's Oldest Lighthouse Gets an Air Surveillance Radar". ERR. 18 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
- ISBN 978-1-57607-800-6.
- ^ a b c d e Tiik, Leo (1976). The Lighthouse of Kõpu (Formerly Dagerot) (PDF). Transactions of the Tartu State University. p. 161.
- ^ ASIN B001P9SNUE.
- ^ a b c "Kõpu lighthouse". Hiiumaa Lighthouse Tour. Hiiumaa.ee. Archived from the original on 28 April 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
- ^ a b Vali, Jaan. "Degradation of Estonian Lighthouses in Surrounding Environment" (PDF). Estonian National Heritage Board. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
- ^ a b "Kõpu küla". eestigiid.ee (in Estonian). Hansalevi OÜ. Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2009.
- ^ ISBN 978-9985-9789-7-9.
- ^ a b c d e Kolk, Tiina (25 August 2006). "Kõpu tuletorn – Põhja-Euroopa vanim tuletorn töötab Kõpul juba 475 aastat!". Äripäev Online (in Estonian). Bonnier Business Press. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ISBN 978-1-84162-194-4.
- ^ "Kõpu lighthouse" (PDF). Kõrgessaare parish. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
- ^ a b "Kõpu tuletornil uus müts". Eesti Päevaleht (in Estonian). EkspressMeedia AS. 31 October 2001. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ^ Viidik, Aivar (1 February 2001). "Elavhõbedapomm Kõpu majakas". Eesti Ekspress (in Estonian). EkspressMeedia AS. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
- ^ Kõpu restaureerimistööde aruanne (PDF). Riiklik Uurimis- ja Projekteerimisinstituut. 1990. p. 9.
- Hiiu Leht. 8 June 2012. p. 9. Archived from the originalon 11 March 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ^ "Kõpu tuletorni ainulaadne tuli särab nüüd veelgi eredamalt". Estonian Maritime Administration. 3 February 2020. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- ^ "Kõpu tuletorn". Kultuurimälestiste riiklik register (in Estonian). Muinsuskaitseamet (National Heritage Board). Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
- Eesti Post. 25 February 2000. Archivedfrom the original on 25 February 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-7614-0951-9.
kopu lighthouse.
- ^ Baltic Sea Heritage Co-operation: Coastal Culture and Maritime Heritage (working group), et al. "Baltic Lights:A guarantee of safe passage Archived 2010-12-27 at the Wayback Machine". National Museum of Science and Technology, Denmark (Host). Polish Maritime Museum, Gdańsk (Orig. exhibitor, April 2003). Retrieved 22 October 2009.
External links
- "Navigatsioonimärgi 668, Kõpu tuletorn andmed". Navigatsioonimärkide andmekogu (in Estonian). 4 August 2016. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- Papermodel of Kõpu lighthouse