Víkarbyrgi – Suðuroy – (Video) – (Autumn)

Víkarbyrgi is an abandoned village on the southeastern coast of Suðuroy, by Víkarfjørður and northwest of the islet Baglhólmur. In addition to Víkarbyrgi, Hamrabyrgi is also considered part of the village. The two settlements, separated only by a river, were abandoned by the plague in 1349 and remained uninhabited until around 1830.

Legend
A woman called “Sneppan” from Hamrabyrgi was the only survivor. The long isolation during the Black Death meant that after the plague ended, she did not want contact with others. To prevent her from starving, men from the neighboring village of Sumba lowered dried meat to her from a cliff. A field in Hamrabyrgi bears the name “Snepputoftin” after her (the ruin remnants by the waterfall).

Until the devastation of the plague in the Middle Ages, the village was one of the largest on Suðuroy with its own church and cemetery, and remains of it can still be seen. In 1830, Víkarbyrgi was inhabited again when Joen Joensen from Sumba built a house and moved there with his family. Since the 1980s, there has been no permanent residence in the village.
See the many plots and stone fences from the Middle Ages, especially near the river to the west by the small waterfall. Southeast of Víkarsbyrgi lies the small distinctive islet Baglhólmur, whose name is associated with the Latin word “Bachulus” (bishop’s staff). Baglhólmur was probably inhabited by Irish monks before the Viking Age in the Faroe Islands.

History Víkar was an important village until 1349, with its own Catholic church. 695 Irish monks, “the Papers,” were probably driven out from Baglahólmur. 1349 The Black Death wipes out the village, only the woman Sneppan survives. 1830 Joen Joensen builds a house. 1834 Víkarbyrgi has 13 inhabitants. 1906 40 people live here. 1942 On March 31, a mine washes ashore and damages several houses. 1970 Víkarbyrgi has 22 inhabitants. 1977 The village was the last on Suðuroy to get a road connection. A salmon farm is established. 1998 In November, the last two permanent residents leave the village. 2007 the village once again has 2 inhabitants