Streymoy, southern part - Tórshavn
It began with a Viking “Thing”, followed by a market,
later it became a thriving town, and today it is one of the smallest
and most pleasant capital cities in the world.
This is, in brief, the
history of Tórshavn which began centuries ago when Vikings from Western
Norway first discovered the islands. In summer, and in the middle of
the islands, they met here for their annual gathering. They came to
settle their quarrels or impose their will, to talk together and to
trade. This summer court and market gradually grew into a permanent
trading area.
Under
Norwegian and then later Danish rule, government officials made
Tórshavn their home. They built forts to protect the town and their
monopoly trade from marauding pirates. The poor and those without land
tried their luck in Tórshavn working at the forts and with the monopoly
trade.
The trade monopoly eventually ended in 1856. From that
time on, free trade developed quickly, and spurred on by an expanding
fishing fleet, the village soon became a real town. In 1801 the
population of Tórshavn was 554. By 1950 it had grown tenfold to 5,600.
After the merger with Kollafjørður some years ago, the municipality of
Tórshavn has seen its population rise to over 19.000, approximately
40% of the total population.
But the old centre of the town
is still well preserved and lively. When you enter the old town and
walk around among its old houses, you will find yourself in a
confusion of lanes and narrow passages, steps and rocks and tiny
black-tarred houses with white windows and green turfed roofs. You may
think that you have lost your way onto the set of an historical film or
into a museum, but what you see is in fact a genuine town dating from
the Middle Ages and still alive with hens and children and all the buzz
of ordinary life. A town that never fell prey to an all-destroying
fire, as was the case of almost all other Nordic timber-built towns of
that time, and thus it is unique not only in the Faroes but in the
world.
The old town of Tórshavn is the dwelling place of
history and stories. It is the hometown of the great story teller
William Heinesen. He was born on 15 January 1900 in Bringsnagøta, and
from the high attic in his father’s shop he could look down onto the
small grass turf covered houses, right out over the sea and into the
infinite cosmos. From here he saw Adam sitting in a garden full of wild
chervil and angelica, naming the animals, and on especially good days
he could see, on the mountain ridge towards the west, the remains of
Noah’s Ark. It was also here in the loft that he met the dream and elf
girl Tarira, who now stands as the Heinesen monument in the town’s
park, cast in bronze in the sculptor Hans Pauli Olsen’s
representation.
Here his “Lost Musicians” wandered among
the houses, dreamers and visionaries who once having heard the wind
harp’s music in the church tower, could never be the same as other
ordinary folk. Here in a doorway stands Fina i Tranten and her
beautiful daughter Rosedukken, and soon all the others arrive. In
the old story-teller’s narratives live the alleys and passageways, hens
fly down from roofs, women talk to each other from window to window,
the world is being created and the world is being destroyed with
horrors and delights.
The Faroese Museum of History, together
with the open air museum in the old village of Hoyvík, is well worth a
visit if you want to learn more about the cultural history of the Faroe
Islands. For those who are interested in natural history, then the
Museum of Natural History is the obvious place to go with its
exhibitions about the island’s geology and animal life. The Faroese
National Gallery of Art displays a comprehensive collection of
powerful and vivid Faroese works of art. And then, of course, there is
the Nordic House with its architecture and cultural events which make
for a unique experience. Føroya Sjósavn – the Faroese Aquarium, is the
latest attraction where you can experience up close just some of the
fish, squid, starfish, mussels and other species that swim in the sea
around the islands.
Vestaravág,
Tórshavn’s western bay, has gradually become ‘the’ place to experience
various events in the town. At the head of the bay, there are three red
gabled buildings that are a part of the old commercial house in
Vágsbotn. It was here in 1768, that the Danish businessman, Niels
Ryberg, established his business in trading luxury goods from places
such as the West Indies. He became one of Denmark’s richest men by
smuggling the goods on to the United Kingdom.
The old dairy and
margarine factory are in the same road and these now function as a
youth centre with facilities for various youth groups and as theatre
premises for the new Faroese national theatre.
In the square
opposite the media house, there is a statue of Nólsoyar Páll, Poul
Nolsøe, who worked for a while at Ryberg’s commercial house. He was a
farmer, sailor and skipper, sailing out in the world during the
Napoleonic wars. He is however, best known as a poet and in particular,
for his bird ballad where he uses the allegory of an oystercatcher
chasing birds of prey, representing the authorities and officials, in
defence of all the small birds, representing the country’s poor
population.
From his low pedestal, he can observe the
activities surrounding the many colourful boats in the harbour and
watch life as it passes by under the picturesque gabled buildings along
the quayside. Perhaps he knows some of the pensioners, who sit on the
wall benches when the sun comes out, or at least he recognises the
type; those who never change even though everything around is changing.
On
the other side of the bay are the shipyard and old warehouses. These
served the town’s large fishing fleet that would lay anchored during
the winter months before setting out to fish in Iceland and Greenland.
One of them, Westward Ho, has recently been refurbished, as has one of
the old warehouses, which is now used for exhibitions and cultural
arrangements. There are many plans for the undeveloped area between the
two arms of the bay and when completed, Vestaravág will finally become
the town’s cultural centre.
What is this special experience
then? What is the town’s special identity? It is the history combined
with the attraction of a modern society. The visitor to Tórshavn will
find a thriving business life, good restaurants and hotels, cafés,
galleries, conference facilities and live music, but also an intimacy
seldom found elsewhere. It has something to do with size; the
surrounding ocean is infinitely great, yet within lies a perfect
microcosm.
Tórshavn is both old and modern, understandably
the focus of the islands with its many and sometimes noisy attractions,
yet with an enviable position that will enable you to reach even the
most remote location in just a few hours. On arrival you can be sure to
find nature’s incomprehensible greatness and the best thing of all;
tranquillity. Through the changing light and sound of the wind and
water, nature will transform you from a sophisti cated citizen of the
world to one with an inner peace devoid of words.
Kirkjubøur
During
the Middle Ages, Kirkjubøur was the ecclesiastical and cultural
centre of the Faroes. Here was the bishop’s residence until the
Reformation, when the Faroese diocese was abolished, but the
imposing ruin of Saint Magnus Cathedral still dominates the site.
Construction
is thought to have begun in the late thirteenth century, the style of
the building being from the best period of Gothic architecture,
pointing to West Norwegian church building from that time. Tradition
has it that it was never finished, yet recent research has revealed
that it was probably roofed at one time. A great avalanche in 1772
severely damaged the cathedral, crushing in the northeast corner of
the building.
A crumbling wall and a mound of stones is all that
remains of another, smaller church, most of this building having been
washed away by the sea. The existing parish church is the only
medieval church still in use; thought to be even older than the
cathedral and reputedly dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. Olav.
The church was surrounded by a churchyard, but as much of the land
between Kirkjubøur and the islet of Kirkjubøhólmur has been eroded
by the sea, it now stands right at the water’s edge.
The
Roykstovan, standing on the stone basement of a part of the bishop’s
palace, has been the home of the farmers in Kirkjubøur for centuries
and occupied by the same Faroese family for 17 generations.
Covered with a turf roof, it is a large splitlog building made of
timber which is said to have come drifting all the way from Norway
some 700 years ago. The farmhouse interior reflects the lifestyle
of a large Faroese farm. The main floor was the eating and sleeping
area as well as the central activity area with, amongst other things,
the spinning wheels.
To get to Kirkjubøur you can either take
the bus or hike over the hills. If you start from the cross between
Landavegur and Velbastaðvegur in Havnardalur, there is a bridge
going over Sandá and from there it is easy to find the path and the
first cairn. This path that passes Reynsmúlalág is well marked with
many cairns and can be seen in the terrain. The hike takes about two
hours and you have the most beautiful views of the islands to the west:
Sandoy, Hestur, Koltur and Vágar.
The Faroese Museum of
History has a large collection of exhibits depicting the cultural
history of the islands. The most important exhibit is that of the
Kirkjubøur chairs. These were a part of the beautifully carved interior
of the parish church in the Middle Ages but are now thought to have
been made for the cathedral in Kirkjubøur.
On the top of
Kirkjubøreyn you find a veritable lunar landscape, but it is
nevertheless impressive and there are idyllic lakes. The famous
Faroese writer and pain- ter, William Heinesen, describes this
landscape in some of his novels, and the lake, Porkerisvatn, is the
subject of many of his paintings. Some of William Heinesen’s paintings
can be seen in the art gallery in Tórshavn.
Nólsoy
Nólsoy
lies like a giant buffer protecting Tórshavn from the eastern storms.
It is therefore not surprising, that it belongs to the municipality of
Tórshavn. Yet, why would it want to be a part of all the crowds and
noise of the capital? Fortunately, it has the fjord between keeping a
suitable distance and yet at the same time, it is close enough to the
centre of Tórshavn taking only twenty minutes by ferry.
There
are more and more who take advantage of this fact. Instead of taking a
long boat trip to one of the more distant isles, you can make the short
journey across the fjord to an island and village free from everyday
hustle and bustle, cars and noise.
There is a tourist
information centre down on the harbour providing information about
hiking tours, including one to the lighthouse at the southernmost tip
of the island. The lighthouse has been constructed of beautiful hewn
stone, has one of the world’s largest lenses and is almost three metres
high; weighs four tons and is featured on the twenty kroner coin.
Other
tours go to places nearer the village, such as the one to Korndalur,
where the princess spring and ruins can be seen. Legend has it that it
was here the princess lived with her lover after being forced to flee
due to the disapproval of her father, the Scottish king.
Another
popular tour is to the world’s largest colony of storm petrels, the
small bird that only flies at night. The guide for this tour is usually
the ornithologist, Jens Kjeld Jensen. Another name always mentioned in
connection with Nólsoy is Ove Joensen, a local who rowed single-handed
900 sea miles from the Faroe Islands to Langelinie in Copenhagen. His
boat, the Diana Victoria, is on display in the basement of the tourist
information centre.
The historic house á Brunn, dating from
the 1600’s has been converted into a museum. The cooker is one of the
oldest on the Faroe Islands. It was installed in 1858 and hailed as
such a fantastic technological advance, that it was christened the
‘cooking machine’.
That the people of Nólsoy have a sense of
humour when it comes to words is best seen when making the return trip
to Tórshavn. Behind the factory on the quayside lies a small shed
fitted out as a music studio and going by the name of ‘Studio Ear Wax’!
Hestur and Koltur
Hestur
is a long, narrow and steep island with a small village in the centre
facing Streymoy. During the summer months, it is particularly green
on the eastern side. On the western side, there are sheer cliffs,
whilst the island’s ridge has a large and unusually flat plain with
many small idyllic lakes.
Hestur means horse and from a certain
angle, the island does in fact look like a resting horse. There are two
paths up onto the ‘horse’s back’, a steep one straight up from the
village and a more comfortable sloping path from the south. From the
top it is possible to look down into the dramatic Álvagjógv, elf gorge,
and across to the steep bird cliffs with thousands of nesting sea
birds. Hidden far in under these bird cliffs are incredible grottoes.
In the summer months boat tours go to the western side of Hestur from
Tórshavn and weather permitting, concerts are performed in the
grottoes. Apart from being a unique way in which to experience the
nature, the grotto concerts are an acoustically fantastic musical
experience.
The tiny island of Koltur seems to follow Hestur
like a colt following a horse, and it is possible that the island’s
name has some connection with the English word ‘colt’. The island is
dominated by the steep mountain of Kolturshamar that rises to 477m
above the sea. There is only one farm on Koltur and no regular
connection to the island. Occasionally during the summer months,
visits are arranged to Koltur and the farmer provides farm holidays
with many exciting activities.
Historically, Koltur is a unique
place. It is not possible to find such an unspoiled cultivated
landscape, from coast to mountain, anywhere else on the islands. The
cultivated area within the stone fences is immense, a significant part
of which is ancient farmland for the growing of corn. After the
restoration of several old buildings belonging to the abandoned
settlement Heimi í Húsi, Koltur is most definitely worth a visit.