Gásadalur (Settlement)

© Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Infrastruktur
Gásadalur’s café and guest house, Gásadalsgarður, is a well-visited place, not least by the many tourists who make the trip through the tunnel to see the iconic Múlafossur waterfall. Before the construction of the tunnel, the village was extremely isolated as it could only be accessed by water or via a narrow footpath over the mountain. ÓLAVUR FREDERIKSEN, 2017

The markatal settlement of Gásadalur has 14 inhabitants and covers 18 merkur. Of these, 3 merkur and 8 gyllin are copyhold land, which is divided between two copyhold tenants, and 14 merkur and 8 gyllin are freehold land. The sheep herd consists of 576 animals.

This small village was difficult to reach both by sea and by land until the tunnel to Gásadalur was opened in 2002, but the village has now become a popular tourist destination, especially the Múlafossur waterfall.

In Gásadalur, you can see the ruins of a farm complex that belonged to the fabled, wealthy woman Gæsa from Kirkjubøur. She had all her earthly possessions confiscated by the medieval church authorities because she had taken the liberty to eat meat during Lent. When she moved to Gásadalur, she was given 7 merkur of land by her sister’s son.

Around 1830, the outlying village of Víkar was established on the outskirts of the village, but the village was so difficult to reach and remote that the last inhabitants moved in 1910. Like Mykineshólmur, Víkar was a good grazing area for oxen and beef cattle.

For many years, the Faroese author and hymn writer Mikkkjal Dánialsson á Ryggi was an itinerant teacher in the villages of Gásadalur and Bøur.

Further reading

Read more about The islands, towns and settlements

  • Jóan Pauli Joensen

    (b. 1945) D.Phil. in History and D.Phil. in Ethnology. Professor Emeritus and adjunct professor at the University of the Faroe Islands and former rector of the University of the Faroe Islands.

  • Jon Sigurð Hansen

    (b. 1967) MA in History. Author, self-employed.