Description of the attraction
The Tahkuna lighthouse is located in the northern part of Hiiumaa, on Cape Tahkuna. The tower was assembled according to the so-called Gordon system. This means that the lighthouse was assembled from already manufactured and delivered parts, which significantly reduced the overall construction time and simplified the assembly of the lighthouse.
The details of the lighthouse were made in Paris in the early 1870s. The structure was bought by the tsar of Russia in Paris during a world exhibition. The details of the lighthouse are cast from cast iron.
The lighthouse is 42.6 m high and the fire can be seen over 18 nautical miles. (one nautical mile corresponds to 1.852 km). Around the tower was built a complex of farm buildings of the 19th century, which have now been turned into a museum. Visitors here can get acquainted with the history of the Tahkun lighthouse, with farmstead buildings, and feel the atmosphere of that time by ordering a smoke sauna.
The Tahkun lighthouse is incredibly beautiful - white, with a red roof, proudly rises on a promontory above the surrounding farm buildings.
The lighthouse is open to the public. Once here, you should definitely look at the gorgeous view opening from above, even if the weather turns out to be cloudy.
Not far from the lighthouse, at the place where the waves washed the first victims of the shipwreck of the Estonia ferry in 1994 to the island, a memorial was erected. The monument is a cross swinging on a parallelogram, a bell is attached to the base of the cross, which can be rung to honor the memory of the victims. The coordinates of the shipwreck and the date of the sad accident are carved on the diamond-shaped base.
The sinking of the ferry "Estonia" is one of the worst tragedies of the 20th century. According to available data, there were 989 people on board: 803 passengers and 186 crew members. Only 137 people were saved, most of them being men. Children and women were far less likely to be saved. Not one of the children under the age of 12 escaped.
According to the official version, the cause of the crash is the penetration of water into the hold of the ferry through the car hatch. However, there are various unofficial versions and investigations, according to which there are many secrets in this tragedy that the state does not want to disclose.
