Gásadalur

Gásadalur
Gásadalur
Village
	View of Gásadalur from the west
State	Kingdom of Denmark
Constituent country	Faroe Islands
Island	Vágar
Municipality	Sørvágur
Population (1 January 2012)
• Total	18
Time zone	GMT
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (EST)
Postal code	FO 387
Climate	Cfc

Gásadalur (Danish: Gåsedal) is located on the west-side of Vágar, Faroe Islands, and enjoys a panoramic view over the island of Mykines.

Gásadalur is located on the edge of Mykinesfjørður, surrounded by the highest mountains on Vágar. Árnafjall towers to a height of 722 metres to the north, and Eysturtindur to the east is 715 metres high. Here too, the view south to Tindhólmur and Gáshólmur is quite magnificent.

The landing site is very poor, because it is located somewhat higher than the seashore. So if the residents wanted to fish they were obliged to keep their boats near Bøur. In 1940, during the British occupation, a stairway was built from the beach up to the village.

In order to reach any of the other villages, they had to take the strenuous route over mountains more than 400 metres high. This explains why the village population has become smaller and smaller. In 2002 there were only sixteen people living in Gásadalur, and several of the houses stand empty today. It had a population of 18 in 2012.^[1]

In 2004 a tunnel was blasted through the rock, and it is possible to drive through by car. The residents hope this will mean that the village population will increase again. There are good opportunities for farming, and the same number of fields as in Bøur, but here only a few are royal estate. Most of them are freehold land.

Gæsa or Goose?

There is a story that the village was named after a woman called Gæsa, who came from Kirkjubøur. She had eaten meat during the Lent fast, and for this unholy deed all her property was confiscated. She fled to the valley on Vágar, which was named after her. Most other village stories are about spirits and elves.

A more likely explanation is that Gásadalur (Goose Valley) is named after the wild geese, which from ancient times have travelled to the valley.