Kirkja

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Position of Kirkja on the Faroe map

Kirkja is a village on the island of Fugloy, Faroe Islands.

Population: 28
Postal code (Zip): FO 766
Location: 62°19′10″N, 6°18′51″W
Municipality: Fugloyar kommuna

Kirkja is one of two villages on the island of Fugloy that are connected both by the road built in the 1980s and by the ferry that connects both Kirkja and Hattarvík to Hvannasund on the larger island of Viðoy, and in the last two decades the island can also be reached by helicopter either from the national airport in Vágar, the national capital of Tórshavn or the regional capital Klaksvík. The village is located on the south-tip of the island, and its land is stretching all over the western side of the island, including a small enclave in the now uninhabited Skarðsvík. Here archaeologists have located an old settlement that has probably been only a part-time settlement used either by people from 'Kirkja' or 'Hattarvik'.

Kirkja means church and Fugloy means bird-island in Faroese. From here there is a beautiful view over the sound Fugloyarfjørður towards the impressive capes of Svínoy and also towards the northernmost cape of the Faroes, Enniberg on Viðoy' - one of the highest cliffs in the world - and the impressive rounded isthmus of Viðareiði that has been a favorite motive for Faeroese and foreign painters throughout the past century because of its tremendously beautiful sunset. Kirkja thereby offers one of the most beautiful panoramas in the Faroes, making it a popular tourist attraction.