Virtsu opens its sixth lighthouse, Estonia’s only reinforced-concrete tower

A new 28-metre lighthouse has been erected in Virtsu, replacing a deteriorated 18-metre tower built in 1951. The new red-and-white structure is the sixth lighthouse on the site and the only reinforced-concrete tower among Estonia’s 55 lighthouses, ERR reported.

The previous lighthouse had to be demolished because of its poor condition. Construction of the replacement took five months despite severe weather, with prefabricated sections brought to the site, assembled and joined into a single structure, said Priit Pall, head of Hoogla Ehitus.

The first lighthouse in Virtsu was built in 1866. Lighthouses there have been destroyed during both world wars and rebuilt each time. Edgar Peganov, director of the Maritime Service at the Transport Administration, said the tower’s predecessors had been destroyed repeatedly, including by foreign forces.

Although ships now have modern navigation equipment, lighthouses remain important maritime markers. Marko Matvere, host of the programme “Tuled kodusamas,” said the waters between the Virtsu lighthouse and Pater-Noster were once extremely dangerous, with many lives lost, particularly when ships had no engines.

It is not yet known whether the new lighthouse will be opened to visitors.