Skopun (pronounced ; ) is a town in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

situated on the northern coast of Sandoy. Skopun is the second-largest town on the island. Skopun Municipality consists only of the town of Skopun.

History

Although the area has been inhabited since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, Skopun was not founded until 1833. The people of Skopun did not possess any land. They subsisted on fishing, so the houses were built close to the water. In 1897, Skopun's church was constructed out of timber taken from the old church of Vestmanna. The Faroe Islands' first road was built on Sandoy in 1917, as part of a government-financed plan to improve the island's non-existent harbour facilities. It connects Skopun with Sandur, the island's main town. Skopun's harbour was built in 1926 and later extended. In 1982, the harbour was furnished with a gate which protects the dock from the sea. A 1988 hurricane destroyed the town's small wood. Until December 2023, Skopun was the ferry port for the route to Gamlarætt on Streymoy, occasionally via Hestur. This service ceased to operate after the Sandoyartunnilin opened for general traffic.

Name

The first part of the place name comes from skopa, a bowl shaped vessel for bailing water out of a boat (better known as an eyskar), and the un by a shortening of havn (haven or port). The Danish Skopen appeared on three cancellers between 1908 and 1962 and Skopun has been in use since. The word skopa as defined seems to be uniquely Faroese, although a similar-sounding skota was the word for a bailing vessel in northeast Iceland (also called austurskota).

People from Skopun

* Peter Mohr Dam, prime minister * Gerhard Lognberg, politician * Niels Winther Poulsen, educator and politician * Sakaris Stórá, film director

Gallery

Image:Skopun (1).JPG, The village of Skopun Image:Skopun (2).JPG, View over Skopun Image:Skopun and Hestur.JPG, View from Skopun northwards over the Skopunarfjørður to Hestur Image:Skopun (5).JPG, The

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

"Teistin", connecting Skopun on Sandoy with Gamlarætt on Streymoy.

References

External links