The Leaning Kiipsaare Lighthouse

In the sea, off the coast of Saaremaa, Estonia, stands a slender lighthouse leaning dramatically towards the sea. When it was built in 1933 out of reinforced concrete, it stood on solid ground, more than 150 meters inland. But since then, the sea had encroached upon the coast, gradually gnawing at the shoreline until the the waves had taken the land away from the lighthouse’s foundation. The lack of stable ground has caused the lighthouse to lean as it stands engulfed by the Baltic Sea, more than 50 meters from the shore.

Kiipsaare Lighthouse