Kirkjubøur is the southernmost village on Streymoy.
It is located on the west coast and has a view towards the island Hestur. The village was important in the middle ages. At that time it was the Episcopal residence and as such the spiritual centre of the society. In those days the village is said to have had around 50 houses. The majority of these houses were washed away by a fierce storm in the 16th century.
The churches in Kirkjubøur are considered an important cultural inheritance of the Faroe Islands. The Magnus Cathedral normally referred to as ‘Mururin’ (the wall) was built around year 1300. If the construction of the cathedral was actually completed or not is not known today. Today there is only the 1½-meter thick wall remaining. The whitewashed ‘Olavskirkjan’ is the oldest of the three churches in Kirkjubo. It was built in the 12th century and is the only church from the middle ages still used in the Faroe Islands.
‘Kirkjubostolarnir’ are parts of the original benches with carvings of the apostles. For years they were stored in a museum in Denmark but have now been returned to the islands. They are now on show in Fornminnissavnid, which is a museum in Tórshavn .
About 100 meters from the mentioned two churches down by the sea are the remains of a third church which is said to be younger than the Olavskirkjan.
Kongsgardurin is a couple of charming old wooden buildings, which are made of timber, which is said to have come drifting from Norway. One of these buildings called Roykstovan is 900 years old and still occupied.
In the year 1151 a little boy was born in a cave above Kirkjubøur. He would grow to be King Sverre of Norway.