Hoyvík (
Danish: ''Højvig'') 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 ...
. It is part of the
Tórshavn Municipality, and de facto is merged as a northern suburb of
Tórshavn
Tórshavn (; ; Danish language, Danish: ''Thorshavn''), usually locally referred to as simply Havn, is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of th ...
, the Faroese capital.
History
Hoyvík is believed to be a very old settlement. An early source is the ''
Færeyinga saga
''Færeyinga saga'' (; Danish: ''Færingesagaen''), the saga of the Faroe Islanders, is the story of how the Faroes were converted to Christianity and became a part of Norway.
Summary
The saga was written in Iceland shortly after 1200. The auth ...
'', a 13th-century recollection of earlier Viking oral recounts.
Before the late 20th century the population was very low. Until the mid 19th century the entire population comprised one farm. A few more houses were built close to the farmland after the Second World War. A real development boom has been in Hoyvík since about the early 1980s. The new
houses
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
have been built on land that was formerly considered farmer outfields. The architecture of some of these newer houses include
detached
A single-family detached home, also called a single-detached dwelling, single-family residence (SFR) or separate house is a free-standing residential building. It is defined in opposition to a multi-family residential dwelling.
Definitions ...
and
terrace
Terrace may refer to:
Landforms and construction
* Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river
* Terrace, a street suffix
* Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...
d housing. The purchaser of one of these terraced houses, buys the two outer
wall
A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or serves a decorative purpose. There are various types of walls, including border barriers between countries, brick wal ...
s, but then builds the house itself in colours and design of their own choice. The result is an unusual effect of combining terraced housing with the idiosyncratic personal touch of the family living in it.
Notable facts
A 17th-century farmhouse functions today as an open-air museum, part of the
National Museum of the Faroe Islands.
Important institutions in Hoyvík are the
gymnasium and the Faroese Historical Museum. The first church in Hoyvík was finished in 2007.
In 2005 a free trade agreement between the Faroe Islands and Iceland was signed in Hoyvík at the Historical Museum. It is consequently known as the
Hoyvík Agreement.
See also
*
FC Hoyvík
*
Hoyvík Agreement
*
List of towns in the Faroe Islands
This is a list of villages (and towns) of the Faroe Islands as of 29 of April 2025. :fo:Býir í Føroyum
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Towns In The Faroe Islands
Towns
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faro ...
References
External links
Faroeislands.dk: HoyvíkImages and description of all cities on the Faroe Islands.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyvik
Populated places in the Faroe Islands