Europe Trip - Torshavn, Faroe Islands

On June 28 we arrived in Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands, which belong to Denmark. It is a historic, picturesque town, founded by the Vikings.  We decided to take a tour of the city, which included "Tinganes", the historic part of Torshavn.

Tinganes means "parliament point", and it is the site of the original parliament on the islands, started by the Norweigans in the 800's AD.  The point is filled with grass-topped old houses, closely packed together, with narrow roads and walkways. 

This picture was taken from the ship, as we arrived, looking in the direction of Tinganes.

We went on a city tour, which began with driving up a hill to get an overview of the city, followed by the main parts of the city.

 

Then we began our walking tour of Tinganes (note the grass covered roofs):

 

Close up of the roof:

 

 

 Rebuilt Parliament buildings on the point:

 

 

 

 

Our tour then took us to the Nordic House of the Faroe Islands, its cultural centre.  It is built in a Nordic tradition, featuring materils from each of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Finland.  The wooden panels represent Swedish forests, the glass and steel construction representing Denmark and the roof is of Icelandic construction.  It is a forum for Faroe and Nordic art, concerts, theatre and dance performances.