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All the Faroe Islands Gasadalur Village Gásadalur Village

Gásadalur Village

This remote island village was in danger of depopulating completely until a tunnel was built to connect it to the rest of the world .

Gasadalur Village, Faroe Islands

Added By
Eric Grundhauser
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Gásadalur Village   Miranda Methany on Flickr
Gásadalur Village   Miranda Methany on Flickr
Gásadalur Village   Miranda Methany on Flickr
Gásadalur Village   Arne List on Wikipedia
  tylercole / Atlas Obscura User
Stairs   manoukvanderveen / Atlas Obscura User
Stairs built by the British Army in 1940s   maciejbrencz / Atlas Obscura User
Múlafossur Waterfall   manoukvanderveen / Atlas Obscura User
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About

The tiny village of Gásadalur in the Faroe Islands sits at the edge of a tall cliff overlooking the sea. A ring of tall mountains cuts it off from the rest of its own island, and, for most of its existence, from the rest of the world at large.

Prior to 2004, there were only a couple of ways to get to Gásadalur Village. One option was to hike over the mountain terrain that surrounds the settlement, which rises over 2,000 feet high, and then trek for even more miles to the village. The other option was to clamber up the cliff face from any ship brave enough to venture that close to the rocks. In the 1940s a staircase was built into the cliff rocks to make travel a bit easier, but other than that, progress in terms of making the remote village accessible was almost nil.

Because of this isolation, the population of the village fell dramatically despite a number of good, workable fields in their landlocked region. The number of citizens had dropped into the teens by the time a tunnel was blasted through one of the mountains allowing automobile travel to the small community.

While the hope is that the population will grow with the use of the access tunnel, as of 2012 the reported population is still only 18. However the smaller population has ensured that the historically quaint houses and unspoiled vistas all around will stay around a bit longer.     

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Community Contributors

Added By

EricGrundhauser

Edited By

erice1, balbala, tylercole, maciejbrencz...

  • erice1
  • balbala
  • tylercole
  • maciejbrencz
  • manoukvanderveen

Published

March 2, 2015

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Sources
  • http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/traveler-magazine/photo-contest/2012/entries/132162/view/
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A1sadalur
  • http://www.travelmint.com/destinations/gsadalur-village.asp
  • http://www.amazingplacesonearth.com/gasadalur-faroe-islands-denmark/
Gásadalur Village
Gasadalur Village
Faroe Islands
62.112222, -7.434722

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