Tvøroyri

Tvøroyri
Tværå
Municipality and village

Tvoroyri winter 2004 youth walking in street
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Location of Tvøroyrar kommuna in the Faroe Islands
Tvøroyri

Location of Tvøroyri village in the Faroe Islands

Coordinates: 61°33′21″N 06°48′12″W / 61.55583°N 6.80333°WCoordinates: 61°33′21″N 06°48′12″W / 61.55583°N 6.80333°W
State  Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country  Faroe Islands
Island Suðuroy
Municipality Tvøroyrar
Government
 • Mayor Kristin Michelsen
Population (2008)
 • Total 1,785
Website Official home page

Tvøroyri (Danish: Tværå) lies picturesquely on the north side of the Trongisvágsfjørður (fjord) on the east coast of Suðuroy, Faroe Islands. Tvøroyri is a village, and together with Froðba, Trongisvágur, Líðin and Øravík it is Tvøroyrar kommuna (Tvøroyri Municipality).

Overview

The ferry Smyril M/F has 2-3 daily departures from Tórshavn, it calls at Krambatangi ferry port, which is located on the opposite side of the inlet. The trip from Tórshavn to Tvøroyri takes 2 hours. The ferry is large, it takes 200 cars and 975 persons, and if the weather is nice the trip is beautiful and one can see many islands during the trip. It is possible to go by bus from the harbour of Krambatangi to Tvøroyri and all other villages on the island. There are two bus lines: 700 goes to the southern part of the island with Sumba as its end station, 701 goes to the northern part of the island, the end stations are in Sandvík, the northernmost village, and in Fámjin, which is on the west coast, a bit further south of Krambatangi ferry port is a small village which is called Øravík, the road to Fámjin starts there.

The church in Tvøroyri rises high above the village and can be seen from far away. It was constructed in Norway as a building set, moved to Tvøroyri and then built here in 1907, ready to use in 1908. The old church was moved to Sandvík.[1]

In the centre of Tvøroyri, just above the harbour, is "Hotel Tvøroyri". Between the harbour and the hotel lies a square covered by flat stones. Fish used to be dried in the sun here. The Royal Trade Monopoly that had a branch here from 1836 to 1856 built the old houses in the area. The village of Tvøroyri was actually founded due to this branch.

When the monopoly was abolished in 1856, private companies were founded on Tvøroyri. One of these grew into the largest in the Faroe Islands. It had 20 branches and 30 ships. There also lies a museum (History and Maritime Museum of Tvøroyri) in the area above the harbour. Tvøroyri has a large fillet-factory that initiated its production in 1975.

From Tvøroyri one can take a nice walk across the mountains to a valley called Hvannhagi. There is a nice view over the valley and the sea from above the valley. It is also possible to go down into the valley by following the track after the gate.

Tvøroyri has neighbour villages which have grown together with Tvøroyri, which is the central one. Trongisvágur is further west, it lyes around the fjord, Trongisvágsfjørður, and a bit into the valley Trongisvágsbotnur. The other neighbour village is called Froðba, it is further east on the north side of the fjord, on the same side as Tvøroyri. Froðba has columnar basalt along the road, a famous poet Poul F. Joensen had his home in Froðba, and there is a monument there to honour him. Froðba and Trongisvágur are older villages than Tvøroyri.

Tvøroyri and Vágur take turns in hosting an annual civic-festival called Jóansøka. It can be described as a smaller version of the Ólavsøka held in Tórshavn. Jóansøka runs in late June.

Notable people

Tvøroyri is the birthplace of former Faroese Prime Ministers, Jóannes Eidesgaard, Atli Dam and Pætur Mohr Dam.

Sports

Church of Tvøroyri.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Folkakirkjan.fo

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tvøroyri.