Lighthouses are among the most distinctive features of the Pomorskie Voivodeship. The imposing buildings towering over the forests and dunes perfectly fit into the seaside landscape. In addition to their navigation function, they are a popular tourist attraction, which is why the cultural trail of Lighthouses has been marked out in Pomerania.
Hel lighthouse, photo: Pomorskie Travel
There are 10 lighthouses in the region, 8 of which are open to tourists and residents. The tallest tower has a lighthouse in the Northern Port in Gdansk, which is 61 m high. Unfortunately, it is not available to visitors, as it is located in a closed port area. Among the objects open to tourist traffic, the tallest is the lighthouse in Hel, over 40 m high, built by the Germans during World War II.
Lighthouse in Czolpino, fot. Pomorskie.travel
Ustka lighthouse, photo: Pomorskie Travel
The oldest building is the lighthouse in Rozewie from 1822. An interesting fact is that there are two towers on the Rozewie cape. The second, auxiliary lighthouse was built in 1875 and operated until 1910, when the older one was modernized and raised. Today only the old tower is operational. Inside, there is an exhibition on the history of lighthouses, which is a branch of the National Maritime Museum. It is said that Stefan Zeromski stayed in the building for some time, looking for inspiration and writing his novel “The Wind from the Sea”.
Other facilities are located in Ustka, Czolpino, Stilo, Jastarnia, Sopot, Gdansk Nowy Port, Krynica Morska and Rozewie. Of these, only the tower in Jastarnia is not open to the public. The lighthouses in Czołpino and Stilo are beautifully situated, rising on high dunes. Particularly impressive is the three-color tower in Stilo, which was made of ready-made elements joined with rivets, while the building in Czołpino resembles a castle tower.
The lighthouse in Sopot, located near the pier, once served as a chimney for the boiler room of a nearby balneological facility, and it was only in the 1970s that it was rebuilt into a navigation point. Today it is one of the city’s landmarks. One of the most beautiful lighthouses on the Baltic Sea is the historic Flying Lighthouse in Gdansk Nowy Port, which has been in private hands for several years.
However, it is open to visitors. Its architecture is modeled on the now non-existent lighthouse from Cleveland in the United States. The lowest one open to tourists is the lighthouse in Ustka, located on the promenade in the port, popular among tourists. Its architecture resembles a small brick castle.
Lighthouses, due to their specificity, are a unique tourist attraction in themselves. They have been an inseparable element of the seaside landscape since the 19th century and have become a permanent part of the cultural heritage of Pomerania. They are also very popular among tourists as excellent vantage points from which you can admire the beautiful and vast panorama.
Sopot Lighthouse, fot. Pomorskie Travel
Jastarnia. Lighthouse, photo: Pomorskie Travel/ M. Ochocki
