Víkarbyrgi and Hamrabyrgi (Settlements)

© Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Infrastruktur

Víkarbyrgi and Hamrabyrgi, on opposite sides of the Víkará waterway, had both a church and a cemetery. The villages were inhabited in ancient times, but were abandoned, only to be inhabited again later as an outlying village. A road connection came in 1977. From the beginning of the 1990s, salmon fry were produced in the place, but this has ceased. Today there are no permanent residents, only holiday homes.

It is said that the Black Death was the reason why the place was abandoned and that a woman called Sneppan í Hamrabyrgi was the only survivor.

Further reading

Read more about The islands, towns and settlements

  • Annika Y. Skaalum

    (b. 1958) MA in History with a minor in political science. High school teacher at Glasir – Torshavn College, and Vestmanna Gymnasium. Archive assistant at the National Archives of the Faroe Islands.