While exploring the Faroe Islands, we came across plenty of traces of the archipelago’s turbulent history, but nowhere did we find them as concentrated in one place as in the tiny village of Kirkjubøur.
The hamlet at the southern tip of Streymoy Island is home to the impressive ruins of a medieval cathedral, a pretty 12th century church, and an even older wooden farmhouse giving you a glimpse of traditional Faroese life.
Kirkjubøur makes for a nice half-day trip from Tórshavn, as it can be reached by an easy 2-hour hike through the hills or by simply taking one of Tórshavn’s free city buses. Here’s everything you need to know about visiting the village.
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What to See in Kirkjubøur
Kirkjubøur’s three main sights are located right next to each other at the eastern end of the village and can all be visited at a leisurely pace in about an hour.
Magnus Cathedral Ruins
The most famous attraction in Kirkjubøur is also its most unusual: The tall, sturdy walls of a 13th-century cathedral, which by most accounts was never finished. The roofless structure built from fieldstones is a very atmospheric sight, especially when the surroundings are shrouded in mist, as they were when we dropped by.
You can enter the ruins to take a peek in the small sacristy and to check out some of the architectural details, like the characteristic Gothic-era pointed windows or the carved stone Maltese Crosses in the upper parts of the walls.
We spotted many other small decorations around the ruins, including several weathered stone faces around the tympanum of the southern portal and a relief of the crucifixion on the outside of the eastern wall. There is a gate at the entrance, but the interior of the cathedral should be open during daylight hours.
Roykstovan Farm House (Kirkjubøargarður)
The 11th-century Kirkjubøargarður farmhouse is said to be the oldest continually inhabited wooden building in the world. It’s a beautiful building with an exterior of black-tarred wooden logs and a few brightly painted red doors and windows. As with many traditional houses in the Faroes, the roof is grass-decked.
You can visit a few rooms inside, which have been preserved in the traditional Nordic style, including the impressive Roykstovan – an open-roofed communal space, named for the constant haze of smoke the fireplace must have produced. Just as fascinating as the architecture, we found the countless curious objects filling the room.
These include various cooking utensils, fishing gear as well as some stools made from whale vertebrae. Other rooms you can take a peek into are the Stokkastovan, which is even older than the Roykstovan and the small upstairs Loftstovan, which served as a writing chamber (and apparently the place, in which the famous Sheep Letter was composed).
The entrance fee to the farm house is 30 kronor, which you’ll have to throw into a donation box at the entrance. You can check the current opening times here.
Saint Olav’s Church
Dating to the mid 13th-century, the pretty whitewashed Ólavskirkjan is the oldest intact church on the Faroes. As was often the case with early Christian monuments, it seems to have been built on a former pagan site, as a Viking Runestone later found on the church grounds suggests.
As with most churches on the Islands, the interior is rather austere, as even the artistic touches that used to exist have since been removed. For instance, the carved pew-ends depicting the twelve apostles and other biblical characters are now displayed in the National Museum in Hoyvík outside Tórshavn, as is the wooden statue of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus.
One of the few remaining decorations inside the church is the small altarpiece by Sámal Joensen-Mikines, depicting a fishing boat at sea. Something we found interesting is the small closed-off hole in the northern wall, through which people suffering from leprosy could listen to the services without entering the church.
Líkhúsfløtti Church Remains
Considering the size of the village, we were surprised by the number of churches and church ruins in Kirkjubøur. If you have a few minutes to spare before your bus leaves, it’s worth walking the hundred or so metres east from St. Magnus Cathedral to find the much smaller remains of Líkhúsfløtti Church.
The building dates to the 15th century and is thought to have been dedicated to St. Brendan the Navigator, one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. Only parts of one wall and some stone foundations remain, but the view back to Saint Olav’s Church and Magnus Cathedral is very picturesque.
Map of Kirkjubøur
You can find all the sites mentioned above in this map of Kirkjubøur Village.
Practicalities
How to Get to Kirkjubøur
If you’re in the mood for a hike (and the changeable Faroese weather permits it), the village can be reached by a rather easy 2-hour hike from Tórshavn, which I’ve detailed in this blog post.
Alternatively, Tórshavn’s free red city buses also make trips to Kirkjubøur. From Monday to Friday, you can take Line 5, on Saturday Line 7 to get from Tórshavn to the village. You can check the current timetables here. At the moment, there’s no Sunday service.
Hotels in Kirkjubøur
At the time of writing, there is only one place to stay in the village: The well-rated, but rather pricey, Nordic Serenity. If you’re on a budget (like we were), it’s better to make your way back to Tórshavn, where you could stay at the student dormitories of the university, which are rented out to tourists during the summer break (62N Guesthouse Marknagil).