Turfed Roofs of TÃ³rshavn, Faroe Islands

Aramis sent me this interesting greenroof photo yesterday from “Pictures of the Day” (August 13, 2009) in the Wall Street Journal Blogs:

Torshavn turf roof by Bob Strong, Reuters
“A worker mowed the grass roof of a government building near Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands, Thursday. (Bob Strong/Reuters)”

Very cool photo! I don’t know if I’d like to be the maintenance guy, though.

Torshavn Harbor, by Erik Christensen, Faroeislands.dk

Situated in the North Atlantic halfway between Scotland and Iceland, the Faroe Islands are composed of 18 hilly islands covering about 1400 sq. km and remain relatively unknown. The Vikings founded the first parliament on the Tinganes peninsiula in Tórshavn in 825 AD, and the name of the city means Thor’s Harbour, named after the god of thunder and lightning in Norse mythology. The Faroese usually refer to their capital simply as Havn – harbour, and with a population of about 19,000 (2008) the city is carpeted with many traditional sod covered roofs.

Skansin in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, June 25, 2004, by Erik Christensen, Wikipedia

Tinganes is the old part of town, and small wooden houses covered with turf roofs are a common sight. The oldest one dates back 500 years.

Turf Roofs Everywhere in Torshaven, photo by Jon Fossa, faroeislands.dk

I’ve only enjoyed seeing photos of this rugged, picturesque archipelago nation, but have never visited (not yet, at least). Have any of you? Tórshavn appears to be a charming medieval city and we’d love to have someone knowledgeable write a Guest Feature on it for Greenroofs.com, especially about their extensive use of turf roofs and how (if at all) their methodology has changed throughout the years.