Sandvík is the northernmost village of the island of Suðuroy

Suðuroy

Suðuroy is the southernmost of the Faroe Islands. The island covers 163.7 km². In 2010 there were 4763 inhabitants, but there has been a gradual decline in the population numbers ever since the 1950s....

 in the Faroe Islands

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...

. It is situated on the northern side of a shallow fjord. The small village was earlier known as Hvalvík (Bay of Whales) until 1913. Because there was another village in Streymoy with the same name there was too much confusion, that is why they changed the name to Sandvík, which was the original name back in the Viking Age

Viking Age

Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...

.

History

Sandvík is the place where Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

 chief Sigmundur Brestisson

Sigmundur Brestisson

Sigmundur Brestisson introduced Christianity to the Faroe Islands in 999. He is one of the main characters of the Færeyinga saga.According to the Færeyinga Saga, emigrants who left Norway to escape the tyranny of Harald I of Norway, settled in the islands about the beginning of the 9th century...

 was murdered after his long swim from Skúvoy

Skúvoy

Skúvoy is an island in central Faroe Islands, located to the south of Sandoy. It is named after the large number of skua present on the island . There is only one settlement on the island: Skúvoy on the east coast...

 in an attempt to flee from Tróndur í Gøtu

Tróndur í Gøtu

Tróndur í Gøtu was a viking from the Faroe Islands . He and Sigmundur Brestisson are the central figures in the Færeyinga Saga, which tells the early history of the Faroe Islands and the coming of Christianity to the islands, which Tróndur opposed.Chapter 3 of the Saga describes Tróndur as...

. When Sigmundur came ashore exhausted to what he thought would be safety, Torgrímur the Evil fell upon him as he lay helpless on the sand and killed him for the golden bracelet he wore on his arm.

In 1349 the village became deserted, the inhabitants having been wiped out by the Black Death

Black Death

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...

. It would not be until 1816 that the village was once more inhabited.

The church in Sandvík was built Á Bø in Froðba

Froðba

Froðba is a village located farthest out on the north brink of Trongisvágsfjørður, an inlet on the east coast of the island of Suðuroy in the Faroe Islands. The village has eventually merged with the harbour-city of Tvøroyri....

 in 1840. Later, in 1856, it was moved to Tvøroyri

Tvøroyri

Tvøroyri lies picturesquely on the north side of the Trongisvágsfjørður on the east coast of Suðuroy, Faroe Islands....

, because more people lived there than in Froðba. And finally in 1908 it was moved to Sandvík, after Tvøroyri got a new and larger church.

The Road Tunnel from 1969

Sandvík is connected to the road system of the island through a 1500-metre tunnel, which was bored through the mountains in 1969. The tunnel has only one lane and meeting areas where cars can go aside in order to let other cars pass by. The tunnel is located up in the mountain on the southern arm, on the opposite side of the village, which is located on the northern arm of the bay.

Húsið uttan Ánna - A Historical Home and Museum

There is a small museum called "Húsið uttan Ánna" (The House by the River) in the centre of the village. It is located in a traditional Faroese house dating from 1866. The house has turf roof.

Ásmundarstakkur - A Sea Stack West of Sandvík

A narrow road leads from Sandvík to the west coast where many sea birds nest in the cliffs. Ásmundarstakkur is a 97-metre high detached sea stack which is home to puffin

Puffin

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 other sea birds.

External links

• Visitsuduroy.fo
• Landsverk.fo
• Hvalba.fo - The Municipality of Hvalba
• Flickr.com Photos from Sandvík and Ásmundarstakkur.