Skopun

Skopun

*Skopen* (Danish)
Skopun Skopen (Danish)
Municipality and village
	Skopun Municipality; Skopunar kommuna (Faroese)
	Location of Skopun Municipality in the Faroe Islands
	Skopun Location of Skopun village in the Faroe Islands
	Coordinates: 61°54′45″N 6°52′19″W / 61.91250°N 6.87194°W
State	Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country	Faroe Islands
Island	Sandoy
Municipality	Skopun Municipality
Founded	1833
Population (March 2023)
• Total	473
Time zone	GMT
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (WEST)
Postal code	FO 240
Climate	Cfc
Website	Skopun

Skopun (pronounced [skopʊn]; Danish: Skopen) is a town in the Faroe Islands situated on the northern coast of Sandoy.

Skopun is the second-largest town on the island. Skopun Municipality consists only of the town of Skopun.

History

Although the area has been inhabited since the Middle Ages, Skopun was not founded until 1833.^[2] The people of Skopun did not possess any land. They subsisted on fishing, so the houses were built close to the water.

In 1897, Skopun's church was constructed out of timber taken from the old church of Vestmanna. The Faroe Islands' first road was built on Sandoy in 1917,^[3] as part of a government-financed plan to improve the island's non-existent harbour facilities. It connects Skopun with Sandur, the island's main town. Skopun's harbour was built in 1926 and later extended. In 1982, the harbour was furnished with a gate which protects the dock from the sea. A 1988 hurricane destroyed the town's small wood.

Until December 2023, Skopun was the ferry port for the route to Gamlarætt on Streymoy, occasionally via Hestur. This service ceased to operate after the Sandoyartunnilin opened for general traffic.

Name

The first part of the place name comes from skopa, a bowl shaped vessel for bailing water out of a boat (better known as an eyskar), and the un by a shortening of havn (haven or port). The Danish Skopen appeared on three cancellers between 1908 and 1962 and Skopun has been in use since. The word skopa as defined seems to be uniquely Faroese, although a similar-sounding skota was the word for a bailing vessel in northeast Iceland (also called austurskota).^[4]

People from Skopun

Peter Mohr Dam, prime minister
Gerhard Lognberg, politician
Niels Winther Poulsen, educator and politician
Sakaris Stórá, film director

Gallery

The village of Skopun
View over Skopun
View from Skopun northwards over the Skopunarfjørður to Hestur
The ferry "Teistin", connecting Skopun on Sandoy with Gamlarætt on Streymoy.

References

^ Population, municipalities and villages Statistics Faroe Islands
^ Wylie, Jonathan (1987). The Faroe Islands: Interpretations of History. The University Press of Kentucky. p. 120. ISBN 0-8131-1578-7.
^ Proctor, James (2008). Faroe Islands. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-84162-224-8.
^ Brandt, Don (2006). More stamps and the story of the Faroe islands. Postverk Føroya. p. 58. ISBN 99918-3-191-6.

External links

Skopun, information and pictures on Faroe Islands.dk
Maps, airports, & weather on Skopun, Faeroe Islands Page

61°54′45″N 6°52′19″W / 61.91250°N 6.87194°W / 61.91250; -6.87194

[1] Population, municipalities and villages Statistics Faroe Islands

[Wylie-2] Wylie, Jonathan (1987). The Faroe Islands: Interpretations of History. The University Press of Kentucky. p. 120. ISBN 0-8131-1578-7.

[Proctor-3] Proctor, James (2008). Faroe Islands. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-84162-224-8.

[Brandt-4] Brandt, Don (2006). More stamps and the story of the Faroe islands. Postverk Føroya. p. 58. ISBN 99918-3-191-6.

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