Grass Roofs Faroe Islands

The faroe islands are famous for their traditional grass roofs.

Grass roofs faroe islands.

Many houses in the faroe islands have grass roofs. The gjaargarður doesn t just have a grass roof on its main building. A sod roof or turf roof is a traditional scandinavian type of green roof covered with sod on top of several layers of birch bark on gently sloping wooden roof boards. The longhouses of the norse settlers were low houses built of turf stone and driftwood under heavy grass roofs.

Until the late 19th century it was the most common roof on rural log houses in norway and large parts of the rest of scandinavia. In faroe island it rains 300 days during the year so the settlers introduced the grass roofs as it provided protection from the sobbing rain and thermal insulation 19 roofs in scandinavia have probably been covered with birch bark and sod since prehistory. Wonder why someone would want a golf course on their roof. Sheep not mowing machines are used for mowing the grass.

The load of approximately 250 kg. The faroe islands is not a member of the european union despite the fact that it is a self governing region. The faroe islands receive about 300 days of rain annually. Like many islands the capital is a harbor town.

These roofs date way back to when the homes used to be built into the ground to protect them from the wind and ocean conditions. The prime minister s phone number is in the phone book. Many homes have grass roofs. Driving around the faroe islands is a thrilling experience.

While sod was the roofing material of choice for centuries today s new buildings are typically constructed with modern building materials. The tiny streets are a maze around it with characteristic grass roofed buildings. They actually date back to the age of the vikings which as related to the faroes means. Faroe islands travel beautiful land of grass roofs welcome to my channel and this week s video is about faroe islands travel beautiful land of grass roofs.

Driving around the islands you will come across many sod roofs. Back to the 9th century. There is no prison in the faroe islands. First the quaint gjaargarður guest house in gjógv and then the four star foroyar hotel overlooking the bay in the capital torshavn.

You can see only a number of grass roofs in iceland but in the faroe islands it is the norm and many of the wood homes are downright charming. Smooth often narrow one lane roads wind through the middle earth like surroundings making for a perfectly picturesque road trip. Its distribution roughly corresponds to the distribution of the log building technique in the vernacular architecture of finland and the scandinavian peninsula. The forgotten faroes are just a.

Susanna from visit faroe islands arranges for us to stay under a couple of grass roofs. Turf roofs protect homes from this onslaught and provide good insulation.