Roman Matkiewicz has been creating designs of Estonian lighthouses for official Eesti Post stamps for the past 30 years, and told "Ringvaade" Estonians are proud of the lighthouses towering in their hometowns. "They feel like they belong to them. Kind of like my own yard, on my island."

So far he has drawn 39 of Estonia's 55 intact lighthouses, and many of the drawings have appeared on postage stamps.

"The first lighthouse was a coincidence. They asked what could appear on a stamp when the town of Paldiski became free, to highlight that town. I immediately suggested either Paldiski harbor or the Pakri lighthouse, which is on that cape. Of course, the lighthouse was immediately a more attractive subject. Back then, lighthouses weren't yet on stamps," he said.

So, Matkiewicz took the train to Paldiski and went to see the lighthouse in person. "The lighthouse keeper allowed me to climb to the top of the tower, to see it with my own eyes, and they also talked and showed me things."

That first stamp turned out so well that Matkiewicz soon had to start drawing more. He said he never draws from a photo and always goes to the lighthouse itself, no matter how challenging the conditions.

Many of the lighthouses were designed by civil engineer Armas Luige (1901-1991), though many are much older, dating back the the 19th century and earlier.

"Once I went to draw the Juminda lighthouse. Beforehand, of course, I studied the history of that lighthouse in Armas Luige's book and also read archival materials about it. I had a rough idea of what it looked like and what to look for in the Juminda forest. I arrived, found the lighthouse – et voilà, it was a completely different color! A quarter of the tower had been added, so its silhouette was entirely different. If I had drawn it from a photo, I would have misled myself and the viewers. That would have been a big mistake," he explained.

Matkiewicz's firm plan is to capture the remaining lighthouses, and on stamps as well. But it's not just the lighthouses themselves — he also includes everything around them.

"When I drew the first stamp, I wondered how to design the Pakri lighthouse. I had the idea that a nautical chart could serve as the background. You can immediately see the coastal waters and sea routes, but those who have seen nautical charts know that the land is fairly empty, so there was a lot of space to fill, to draw or write something. I took a 1938 road atlas, which shows all the old villages and farms that existed before the war. I thought I would mark exactly those places, and yes, they gradually reappear over the years," he continued.

Not only does Estonia have a long Baltic coastline, but its "East coast" consists of Lake Peipus (Peipsi järv) and the adjacent Läämjärv and Pihkva järv. There are lighthouses on the coast of this freshwater body, too.

A dozen of Estonia's historic lighthouses are also open to the public. Often the existing structure is built on a site which has housed a beacon for shipping for many centuries, at least as far back as the 16th century in some cases. Many of the earlier lighthouses were built of wood.

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