Mykines
Encyclopedia
Mykines is the western-most of the main 18 islands in the Faroe Islands
. See also the only settlement on the island, Mykines
.
Only 11 people live in village Mykines all year around. The oldest inhabitant is 75 and the youngest is 6 years old.
Altogether there are 40 houses, only 6 are inhabited year-round.
Earlier Mykines was one of the biggest villages in the Faroes. For instance, 170 people lived on Mykines in 1940.
Mykines was from 1911 to 2004 its own community but in 2005 was united with Sørvagur kommune.
To the west of Mykines is the islet Mykines Holmur. A 40 meter long bridge connects Mykines to the Islet. A lighthouse is on the islet and it was built in 1909.
On the northern side of Mykines is the valley Korkadalur, where one can find the great columns of basalt, called the Stone-wood.
Mykines is famous for its rich nature and birdlife. A footbridge connects Mykineshólmur with the island of Mykines over a 35 metre deep gorge. The sea stacks surrounding the lighthouse
at the far end of the cape are a sight of striking beauty.
region. However, Mykines uses Greenwich Mean Time
like the rest of the Faroes.
The Faroese basalt is divided into 3 series of eruption, the lower and eldest, the middle and the upper and youngest, the lower is formed by eruption through long fissures of rather fluent lava, which has formed great flat volcanoes. In the sound between Mykines and Mykines Holm, Holmgjogv, one can see some of the mightiest on the Faroes, with thickness of about 50 meter
The softer volcanic tuff-layers between the basaltic layers is partly eroded, so there, especially on the steep northern side, are some of the richest bird cliff
s in the world.
s and gannet
s inhabit the island. There are also many birds located on Mykineshólmur, a small islet to the immediate west of Mykines. A footbridge over the 35 m gorge Hólmgjógv links the two islands.
Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus) have been introduced to the island, and inhabit the mountain area and surrounding valleys. The Mykines House Mouse (Mus musculus mykinessiensis) is endemic for Mykines, and this might suggest an early introduction, maybe as early as in the 6th century by the Irish monks
, who cultivated this island. Its closest relative was the now extinct St Kilda
House Mouse (Mus musculus muralis).
On the rocks at the waters edge there are colonies of cormorants while the eroded tuff layers in the cliffs make perfect shelves for guillemots and razor-billed auks. On the grassy slopes above the bird cliffs, thousands of puffins have their dens, and their strong feces is a powerful fertilizer on the slopes.
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
. See also the only settlement on the island, Mykines
Mykines, Mykines
Mykines village is the only settlement on Mykines Island, the westernmost of the Faroe Islands. It is a beautiful little coastal village with bright houses with turf roofs, with an old turf-roofed stone Church dating from 1878, and a small stream flowing through the village.*Population: ...
.
Only 11 people live in village Mykines all year around. The oldest inhabitant is 75 and the youngest is 6 years old.
Altogether there are 40 houses, only 6 are inhabited year-round.
Earlier Mykines was one of the biggest villages in the Faroes. For instance, 170 people lived on Mykines in 1940.
Mykines was from 1911 to 2004 its own community but in 2005 was united with Sørvagur kommune.
To the west of Mykines is the islet Mykines Holmur. A 40 meter long bridge connects Mykines to the Islet. A lighthouse is on the islet and it was built in 1909.
On the northern side of Mykines is the valley Korkadalur, where one can find the great columns of basalt, called the Stone-wood.
Mykines is famous for its rich nature and birdlife. A footbridge connects Mykineshólmur with the island of Mykines over a 35 metre deep gorge. The sea stacks surrounding the lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
at the far end of the cape are a sight of striking beauty.
Geography
Furthermore, Mykines is so far west, that it's actually west of 7.5 degrees W, effectively putting it in the UTC-1UTC-1
UTC−01 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of −01. This time is used in:-As standard time :*Greenland**Eastern Greenland *Azores...
region. However, Mykines uses Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is arguably the same as Coordinated Universal Time and when this is viewed as a time zone the name Greenwich Mean Time is especially used by bodies connected with the United...
like the rest of the Faroes.
Geology
Mykines belongs to the eldest part of the Faroe Islands and was formed about 60 million years ago.The Faroese basalt is divided into 3 series of eruption, the lower and eldest, the middle and the upper and youngest, the lower is formed by eruption through long fissures of rather fluent lava, which has formed great flat volcanoes. In the sound between Mykines and Mykines Holm, Holmgjogv, one can see some of the mightiest on the Faroes, with thickness of about 50 meter
The softer volcanic tuff-layers between the basaltic layers is partly eroded, so there, especially on the steep northern side, are some of the richest bird cliff
Bird cliff
Bird cliffs are steep cliffs with numerous small shelves which serve as nesting locations for bird colonies. Bird cliffs are found on islands in the North Atlantic and Arctic, such as the Faroe Islands, the Svalbard archipelago and on islands off Northern Norway...
s in the world.
Flora and fauna
Large numbers of puffinPuffin
Puffins are any of three small species of auk in the bird genus Fratercula with a brightly coloured beak during the breeding season. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crevices among...
s and gannet
Gannet
Gannets are seabirds comprising the genus Morus, in the family Sulidae, closely related to the boobies.The gannets are large black and white birds with yellow heads. They have long pointed wings and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic, with a wingspan of up...
s inhabit the island. There are also many birds located on Mykineshólmur, a small islet to the immediate west of Mykines. A footbridge over the 35 m gorge Hólmgjógv links the two islands.
Mountain Hares (Lepus timidus) have been introduced to the island, and inhabit the mountain area and surrounding valleys. The Mykines House Mouse (Mus musculus mykinessiensis) is endemic for Mykines, and this might suggest an early introduction, maybe as early as in the 6th century by the Irish monks
Papar
The Papar were, according to early Icelandic historical sources, a group of Irish or Scottish monks resident in parts of Iceland at the time of the arrival of the Norsemen...
, who cultivated this island. Its closest relative was the now extinct St Kilda
St Kilda, Scotland
St Kilda is an isolated archipelago west-northwest of North Uist in the North Atlantic Ocean. It contains the westernmost islands of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The largest island is Hirta, whose sea cliffs are the highest in the United Kingdom and three other islands , were also used for...
House Mouse (Mus musculus muralis).
On the rocks at the waters edge there are colonies of cormorants while the eroded tuff layers in the cliffs make perfect shelves for guillemots and razor-billed auks. On the grassy slopes above the bird cliffs, thousands of puffins have their dens, and their strong feces is a powerful fertilizer on the slopes.
History
It has been suggested that the name Mykines is actually pre-Norse in origin, coming from muc-innis, a Celtic term for pig island. This may be a reference to whales, which are known as muc-mhara (Sea sows) in Gaelic.- 625 - pollen analysisPollen analysisAnalysis of the distribution of pollen grains of various species contained in surface layer deposits, especially peat bogs and lake sediments, from which a record of past climate may be inferred. Because the lake sediments accumulate over time, a core of the mud will show that the mud at the bottom...
indicates oatsOATSOATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...
and barleyBarleyBarley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
were grown on Mykines, possibly by early settlers such as monkMonkA monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s and hermitHermitA hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
s - 1592 - Peter Claussøn Friis, a NorwegianNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
priest, described the Faroese mouseMouseA mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
as a distinct species, and the Mykines mouse as a subgroup having especially long powerful hind legs - 1595 - (approx) on 25 April, fifty boats were shipwrecked in a sudden storm and all the working men of Mykines lost their lives (estimated 200 to 300 men)
- 1667 - DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
ship "Walcheren" was wrecked on Mykines and the islanders gained goods from the ship - 1909 - building of the LighthouseLighthouseA lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
on Mykines Holm and construction of the first bridge over Holmgjogv, the narrow strait between Mykines and Mykines Holm - 1928 - radio beacons were installed at NólsoyNólsoyNólsoy is an island and village in central Faroe Islands, located to the east of the capital Tórshavn in Streymoy. There is only one settlement on the island: Nólsoy on the north-west coast on Stongin, a peninsula attached to the rest of the island by a metres-wide isthmus...
and Mykines lighthouses, making radio navigationRadio navigationRadio navigation or radionavigation is the application of radio frequencies to determine a position on the Earth. Like radiolocation, it is a type of radiodetermination.The basic principles are measurements from/to electric beacons, especially...
possible for the first time, and Mykines got a telephone connection to the outside world - 1942 - in spring British forces completed a radar station on á Ólakletti in Liðarhaugi.
- 1953 - the second bridge over Holm Gjogv was built.
- 1970 - flight from Bergen to Vágar AirportVágar AirportVágar Airport is the only airport in the Faroe Islands, a self-governing territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, and is located east of Sørvágur. Due to the Faroe Islands' rather anomalous status, the airport is not fully subject to the rules of the European Union...
crashed in bad weather on Mykines on September 26. Eight of the 34 passengers lost their lives, and the badly wounded were airlifted away by helicopter. A marble memorial was placed in the Church. - 1970 - Mykines lighthouse was automated and the last man moved from the Holm, which had been occupied continuously from 1909 by a varying population of up to 22 people (including children).
- 1989 - the third bridge between Mykines and Mykines Holm came into use in June
Population progression
Progression of the population of Mykines since 1769:| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1769 | 61 |
| 1870 | 114 |
| 1890 | 154 |
| 1925 | 179 |
| 1940 | 170 |
| 2004 | 11 |
External links
- Mykines and Kristianshus Info, pictures, birdpictures and birdvoices
- Photo album
- Faroeislands.dk: Mykines Info and pictures
- Personal Website with 16 aerial photos of Mykines
- TrekEarth.com photo gallery with photos of Mykines Island
- TrekEarth.com photo gallery with photos of Mykinesholmur Island
- Faroese Stamps