Tahkuna Lighthouse: The Elegant Guardian of the Estonian Coast

If Ristna is harsh and stormy, then the Tahkuna lighthouse is like its finer relative – elegant, straight, and white. Erected in 1875, it rises nearly 43 meters high and is the tallest lighthouse on the Estonian coast.

Its story begins in France, where the cast-iron plates were made and the details assembled. Tahkuna was the first fully pre-fabricated cast-iron tower produced by the factory – and it remained their masterpiece. Even today it is considered to belong among the 100 historic lighthouses of the world.

During the war the lighthouse was hit, but mostly only the glass of the lantern room suffered. Later the lenses were replaced with optics ordered from England, and the tower remained firmly standing, as if it had always known it must withstand the tooth of time.

Tahkuna is the jewel of Hiiumaa’s coast. In Tsarist times it was expected that every structure had to be not only durable and functional, but also beautiful, to inspire creativity and admiration. Thus was born a lighthouse whose elegance still speaks the language of its era.

When approaching from the sea and the conical shape of Tahkuna rises on the horizon, the sailor feels at home and safe. It does not stand alone – but as the guardian of Hiiumaa’s northern tip, who seems to glance over the shoulder towards the west, to the Ristna lighthouse. Two lighthouses, with different characters, yet both telling the same story: the light guides, home awaits.