Lopra (Settlement) – Trap The Faroe Islands

© Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Infrastruktur

Located in Lopransfjørður, Lopra is an outlying village from 1834 and has 83 inhabitants today. The village had a whaling station, which was active in the period 1901‑53. Polar explorer Ejnar Mikkelsen was manager of the whaling station in the period 1928‑30.

Lopra has companies that collect and bottle spring water that seeps down the tunnel to Sumba. The water is sold in bottles under the names Kirvi and Aurora Water. Kirvi is the name of a mountain near the village, and it was the businessman Jákup Joensen, Jákup í Lopra, who instituted the bottling.

In 1957, Lopra and Akrar got the joint school á Leiti, which is now closed, and the children go to school in Sumba for the first seven years. The school á Leiti also served as a church and still does.

Both the road and the tunnel to Sumba start in Lopra. From the winding road, there is a beautiful view of the landscape and bird cliff. Lopra is within a short distance of Lopranseiðið on the west side, where the Dutch East India Company sailing ship Westerbeek ran aground and sank in September 1742, and 81 of the crew were saved.

Further reading