Kirkjubøur

Kirkjubøur
Village

At left is Saint Olav's Church from the 12th century. The central building is Kirkjubøargarður (also called Roykstovan), the worlds' oldest still inhabited wooden house, from the 11th century. It's also a museum. In the background the islands Sandoy and Hestur.
Kirkjubøur

Location in the Faroe Islands

Coordinates: 61°57′22″N 6°47′37″W / 61.95611°N 6.79361°W / 61.95611; -6.79361Coordinates: 61°57′22″N 6°47′37″W / 61.95611°N 6.79361°W / 61.95611; -6.79361
State  Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country  Faroe Islands
Island Streymoy
Municipality Tórshavn Municipality
Population (1 January 2009)
  Total 75
Time zone GMT
  Summer (DST) EST (UTC+1)
Postal code FO 175
Climate Cfc
A cluster of houses on Í Lágabø street

Kirkjubøur (Danish: Kirkebø) is the southernmost village on Streymoy, Faroe Islands and the country's most important historical site with the ruins of the Magnus Cathedral from around 1300, the Saint Olav's Church from 12th century and the old farmhouse Kirkjubøargarður from 11th century. In 1832 a runestone was found near the Magnus Cathedral in Kirkjubøur. The stone which is referred to as the Kirkjubøur stone dates back to the Viking Ages.

The village is located on the south-west coast of Streymoy and has a view towards the islands Hestur and Koltur towards west and to Sandoy towards south.

The little islet just of the coast, Kirkjubøhólmur contains an eiderduck colony.

To the village belongs the islet Trøllhøvdi, just 100 m of the northern tip of Sandoy 9 km away from Kirkjubø, it was given as payment to the villagers as it was their duty to ferry people across to Sandoy in medieval times.

History

The village was important in the Middle Ages. At that time it was the episcopal residence for the Diocese of the Faroe Islands and as such the spiritual centre of the society. In those days the village is said to have had around 50 houses. The majority of these houses were washed away by a fierce storm in the 16th century, which created the islet Kirkjubøhólmurin, which contains ruins from that time.

It is speculated that the church located the diocese in Kirkjubø, to counter the heathen in Velbastaður only 5 km to the north west up the coast.[1]

There are three main attractions from this time:

People

Many prominent people come from Kirkjubøur or have been living here:

Kirkjubøur pew ends

The mediaeval carved pew ends from Saint Olav's church are now to be found in the National Museum of the Faroe Islands. These featured in three series of Faroese stamps, engraved by Czeslaw Slania. For the full series, see here.

See also

References

  1. Ljunggren, Karl Gustaf (1955-01-01). "Kirkjubøur, Velbstaður og Tórshavn". Fróðskaparrit 1955.
One of the pew ends: Maria and Baby Jesus 
Magnus Cathedral 
Map showing the position of Kirkjubøur on Streymoy 
A blizzard in Kirkjubøur 
The islet of Kirkjubøhólmur and st. Olav's church. In the distance the island of Hestur 
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