Magnus Heinason established Torshavn’s fort in 1580, ostensibly to guard the settlement against pirate invasion. The clever man was granted a royal charter to operate the fort and a battleship to chase suspected pirates, but instead of defending the town, he plundered passing merchant vessels himself!
When Norwegian settlers established the parliament in 825, they chose the narrow Tinganes Peninsula. The government offices remained here untilt he 20th century. The oldest constructions date from the 15th century or earlier. A fire gutted many of the buildings in 1673, so much of what remains has been restored. Munkastovan was the monk’s house, their private living quarters with stone walls more than 500 years old. Gongin, lined with charming 19th century homes, was the old city’s main street. At the tip of the slender peninsula, Krakusteinur is an unmarked monument to an unusual former ceremony. The word means “crow’s rock” and the flat boulder was used to dispose of beaks collected as tax payments. Ravens and various birds of prey were viewed as pests, so the bizarre levy was a means of control.
Interesting facts:
--The Faroes have 6 islands connected by tunnels.
--St. Brendan led a small group of monks to settle on Streymoy.
--Torshavn was named for the Norse god Thor. “Havn” means harbor.
--Lacking conventional mortar, the Faroese had to improvise, so they fashioned paste from crushed bone and shell. The makeshift mortar proved to be pretty strong, though—the buildings are still intact after enduring 6 centuries of Faroese winters.
--Young puffins are called pufflings.
--The Faroese speak Foroyskt derived from Old Norse. The Faroese krone is interchangeable with the Danish krone. Right now, it’s about 5 krones to an American dollar.
--In the Faroes, when you buy a house, you can do whatever you want with it, unlike in the UK. The average house in Torshavn would cost $600,000, but it would be about ½ that cost outside the city. The average income is $4600 per month.
--$0% of the Faroes Islands exports are salmon. The Gulf Stream is very good for raising salmon and we saw lots of fish farms in the circle pens in the bay with the salmon jumping very high. Many of these pens are computer controlled, meaning the owner can sit at home and feed the salmon & do many other tasks from his chair at home.
--There are 19 tunnels and 4 traffic lights in the islands.
--There are 70,000 sheep here and Icelandic horses, one who was standing in the middle of the road and didn’t want to move. Faorese people love to eat lamb so much that they have to import it. And it costs 3 times more to buy Faroese Lamb than to buy an imported lamb. People will express a wish to have lamb from a particular pasture even.
--They breed swans and geese here in the lakes.
--A fishing license for 3 hours of fishing is the equivalent of $60. The lakes have wild salmon in them and trout. The largest salmon caught in the lakes was 23 pounds.
--There were many more grass roofs in the beginning of settlements here as it was the only method of insulation available. It can wear off, though, and even though it doesn’t need to be mowed, it looks neater if you do. Some use mowers, some use scythes, and some put a sheep up there!
On our shore excursion today, we left Streymoy Island via Kaldbakfjord and the Kololafjordur Valley. We passed through the new underwater (sub-sea) tunnel (3.1 miles long) and arrived on Vagar Island. The tunnel cost $50 million dollars to make and was paid for by the Faroese people from taxes and VAT. It is 110 meters below sea level with the ocean right above you as you go through.
We then drove through the village of Sandavagur where we visited the Midvagur Church. This was a very pretty white church with red trim. It is Faroese Lutheran Episcopal and 83% of the people in the islands are members. There are 85 churches and only 23 priests in the Faroes. This church was built in 1914-17. Inside was a large rock that had been found nearby with Norwegian Runes writing on it from around 1200. The runes said that a man named Torkil Onundarsun was the first to build in this place (town). The Lutheran Episcopals and Danish Churches borrowed the idea of the menorah from the Jews, only since they believe that the Messiah has already come, the menorah is already lit. Our guide said there was one thing about Faroese people—they could never agree on anything. So there is a lot of compromising going on here. Some in this church wanted the 14 stations of the cross and others wanted none. So there are 7.
There was a large sailing ship hanging from the ceiling with 2 chandeliers. The ship represents the fishermen of the congregation. In church, it was a tradition for the priest to speak only Danish, noit Faroese. There was a weapon room (the vestibule) where you had to leave all your knives and guns and other weapons before you entered the church. Only in 1949 was the first Faroese Bible published. One of the priests who found it strange to only speak Danish to those he normally spoke Faroese to decided to create a Faroese written language and he did it in a language very near to Icelandic so that it would be more widely accepted in the whole area.
Britain occupied the Faroes during World War II with 8000 soldiers, 5000 in the area near the church. They built an airport and roads and for a while, this area had the only left-hand driving in the Faroes. They worshipped at this church and sent a lovely letter to the congregation when they left.
Then we passed the largest lake in the Faroe Islands before reaching Vatnsoyrar. Alongside the lake were little peat houses with grass roofs which they used to dry their peat for fuel. In Bour, we found a little village with both old and new houses with green sod roofs and a charming old tar-blackened church. We got out of the bus and wlaked through this little village. From there we had a spectacular view of Tindholmur and Mykines Islands. One of these islands had 5 very prominent peaks at the top. The last persons to live on it were a young couple who were half brother/half sister in an incestuous relationship. They were banished to this island with their child. A legend grew up around this couple that said that an eagle flew down from one of the mountain’s peaks and stole the child. The mother climbed up to rescue him but he died of his injuries and the couple left the island. We left Bour through the tunnel to Gasadalur then returned to Torshavn via the mountain road to capture the view out over the fjords and the capital.
One of the tunnels we traveled through today was a single-track tunnel with passing places!!! It lead to a village with a population of only 25. These people until 5 years ago had to hike over the highest pass to get out of the town. It took them 2 ½ hours to make the trip one way. The postman had to do this hike 3 times a week. 20 years ago, helicopters would come in 3 times a week to bring supplies. The people even had to carry corpses over the top for burial. There is a stone at the top of the pass called the corpse stone which is the only place they rested. Guinness Book of Records records the Faroes as having the smallest state schools—five with only 2 students each. The teachers helicoptered in and stayed the week. As our bus arrived, so did two border collies who shepherded us off our bus then walked amongst us as we looked around then shepherded us back onto the bus—just as they are supposed to do for sheep! It was so cute. As our bus left, they ran back up the hill to the tiny village.
The temperature here in January is around 36 degrees Fahrenheit. There isn’t much snow because of the Gulf Stream. In December it is dark and rainy and there are only 4 hours of sun. There are many activities going on , though, including radio, TV, evening classes, doing theatre and choirs, visiting with others and knitting clubs. Singing is big, too, and there were 13,000 singing at the Festival in Torshavn this last July. The Faroes has the higest birth rate at 2.7 children per family. Medical is free but not dental.
One of our stops today was at the Flogvollur (airport) for the restrooms.
Northwest of Torshavn is Husareyn Mountain at 1138 feet tall and to the southwest is Kirkjuboreyn at 1150 feet. The city of Troshavn has a population of 19,000.
Early on, Torshavn became the center of the monopoly trade, thereby being the only legal place for the islanders to sell and buy goods. This lasted until 1856. The name of the town means Thor’s Harbour and may be named after the god of thunder and lightning in Norse mythology. The coat of arms shows Thor’s hammer. The Faereyinga Saga tells us that emigrants left Norway to escape the tyranny of Harald I of Norway and settled in the island, establishing their parliament called the ting around 825 AD. Other local tings were established in different parts of the islands. The Viking tradition held the ting in a neutral and uninhabited place so nobody had an advantage. The Vikings met on the flat rocks of Tinganes every summer. The Viking age ended in 1035. The ting was followed by a market which gradually grew into a permanent trading area.
There was a very pretty peninsula here in Torshavn with colorful houses. This is the oldest part of Torshavn. We also had another scenic narration as we left the Faroes.
Pictures from top: Torshavn with its peninsula, the oldest part of the city; two views of Tindholmur and Mykines Islands with the sea arch; view showing the tunnel we came through and the pass that the villagers had to walk over only 5 years ago; grass-roofed house.
