Miðvágur (Settlement)

Miðvágur has 1,125 inhabitants and covers 48 merkur, of which 22 merkur, 14 gyllin and 17 skinn are copyhold land and 25 merkur, 1 gyllin and 3 skinn are freehold land. The copyhold land is divided between 16 copyhold tenants. The sheep herd consists of 1,598 animals.

Miðvágur’s outfield stretches right through Vágar, along the lakes of Sørvágsvatn/Leitisvatn and Fjallavatn. Munnin, the outlet of Fjallavatn, is the Faroe Islands’ second largest waterfall, Reipsáfossur. At the southern end of Sørvágsvatn/Leitisvatn lies the largest waterfall, Bøsdalafossur, and the cliff Trælanípan is a popular tourist destination.

The archaeological excavation at Tvørgarði in Miðvágur has been dated to the Middle Ages. It is a secondary farm, laid out from one of the village’s other viking farms. The original old thingstead on Vágar was located in the outfield at Miðvágur; it was later moved indoors at the Heimi í Stovu farm in the neighbourhood of á Ryggi. At the end of the 19th century, the village’s original six býlingar began to grow together, and new built-up areas were gradually added.

Since Catholic times, Miðvágur has been a parish village with the island’s main church. Peder Ditlevsen Ahrboe and Beinta Broberg were a famous vicar couple in the old vicarage in Jansagerði, who have inspired the author Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen to write the character Barbara in the novel of the same name. The old vicar dower house in Kálvalíð is one of the Faroe Islands’ oldest preserved houses and now serves as a native museum.

The current church, which was completed in 1952, was designed by the local master carpenter Heini Joensen, who was trained in Bergen. It is built of concrete, inspired by the Art Nouveau movement and West Norwegian architecture.

The Home Mission and the Pentecostal Congregation each have their own meeting house in the village.

In 1961, after compulsory schooling had been extended from seven to ten years in 1959, the then Miðvágur Kommuna and Sandavágur Kommuna built a school together, which underwent extensive renovation in 2014. The school also has a sports hall.

In the latter half of the 19th century, the population began to grow, because more people gained access to parts of the outfield of the king’s and especially the vicar’s land, so that they could have a cow and otherwise support themselves by coastal fishing. In connection with the introduction of free trade, several traders arrived who bought fish from local fishermen. Along with the long-distance fishing and the greater number of ships that came to the village, it created the basis for a local production of dried cod.

For centuries, Miðvágur has been known as the Faroe Islands’ best hvalvágur, a whaling harbour for catching pilot whales, which had great economic importance for the island as a whole.

The first water-powered machine carpentry was established in the village in 1919. It manufactured windows, doors, stairs, etc. The current machine workshop, Oilwind – J.K. Joensen & Sonur, was established after World War II, and for many years it manufactured equipment for the Faroese fishing fleet, while at the same time experimenting with wind turbine production in the 1980s.

The first actual port facility with a pier was built in the 1920s, which was expanded in the late 1960s. At the same time, the Snarfrost filleting factory opened, which after being closed from 2010, now has new owners and has resumed operations. Hiddenfjord has salmon farming in the sea area off Sandavágur and Miðvágur.

Miðvágur was hard hit during World War II. The local trawler Nýggjaberg was torpedoed in March 1942, 16 crew members from the village died, leaving behind widows and fatherless children.

Miðvágur has a cemetery for British soldiers.

Several Faroese cultural figures were born in Miðvágur such as the linguist and folklorist Jens Christian Svabo, the poet Mikkjal Dánjalsson á Ryggi, the poet Olivar á Ryggi and the writer and folk high school alum Rasmus Rasmussen (Regin í Líð).

Further reading

• Bøur (Settlement)
• Gásadalur (Settlement)
• Sandavágur (Settlement)
• Sørvágur (Settlement)
• Vatnsoyrar (Settlement)
• Vágar (Island)

Read more about The islands, towns and settlements