Fårö

Fårö (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈfôːrøː]) is a Baltic Sea island just north of the island of Gotland, itself off mainland Sweden's southeastern coast. It is the second-largest island in the province and it is a popular summer resort. It has its own dialect (Faroymal, a dialect of Gutnish).

Not to be confused with Faroe Islands or Faro.
Fårö
Rauks at Langhammars, Fårö
Fårö
Gotland (Sweden)
Geography
Coordinates57°57′N 19°09′E
Adjacent bodies of waterBaltic Sea
Area113.30 km2 (43.75 sq mi)[1][2][3]
Administration
Sweden
CountyGotland County
MunicipalityGotland Municipality
Demographics
Population498 (2014)[1]

Fårö is also the name of the populated area, socken (not to be confused with parish), consisting of both Fårö and Gotska Sandön islands.[4] It comprises the same area as the administrative Fårö District, established on 1 January 2016.[5]

Geography
Fårö Church

The island is separated from Gotland by the narrow Fårö-strait, and connected by two car ferries, operated by the Swedish Transport Administration. It has a total area of 111.35 square kilometres (42.99 square miles), of which 9.7 square kilometres (3.7 square miles) are water areas or islets.

On the islands of Fårö and Gotland are rock formations called rauk. They are a result of erosion during the Ice age and are unique to Gotland and Fårö.

The medieval Fårö Church is on Fårö.[6] As of 2019, Fårö Church along with Gotska Sandön Chapel on Gotska Sandön belongs to Fårö parish in Norra Gotlands pastorat.[7][8]

One of the asteroids in the Asteroid belt, 9358 Fårö, is named after the island.[9]

Etymology

The name "Fårö" (in Gutnish "Faroy") is derived from the words "ö", meaning island, and probably "far-", which is a word stem associated with travel like in the Swedish verb "fara" (to travel). The word Fårö probably means the island you have to travel to or the traveler's island. Mainland Swedes might misinterpret the name Fårö to be derived from får, the (standard) Swedish word for sheep, due to the many sheep on the island. That word is absent from Modern Gutnish, which uses the word "lamm" (which in Swedish means "lamb").[10]

Military past
Main article: Military on Gotland

Until the 1990s, Fårö and the North of Gotland were off-limits to foreigners because of a government military installation there.[11] There were large, multilingual signs at the side of the roads informing visitors of this and the prohibition was strictly enforced. After the Cold War ended, the installation (Swedish Coastal Artillery regiment KA 3) was mostly shut down. A relic of the island's military past is a 203 metres (666 ft) tall radio mast at Holmudden at 57°57′33″N 19°20′46″E.

Cinematic heritage

Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman lived and died on Fårö and several of his films were filmed there, among them Through a Glass Darkly (1961), Persona (1966), Hour of the Wolf (1968), Shame (1968), The Passion of Anna (1969), and Scenes from a Marriage (1972),[11] as well as Liv Ullmann’s Faithless (2000), based on a Bergman screenplay. The Bergman Week is a tribute to the filmmaker held on the island every June.[12] Fårö itself is the subject of Bergman's 1970 documentary film Fårö Document.[13]

Andrei Tarkovsky wanted to film The Sacrifice on Fårö but was denied access by the military, instead it was filmed further south on Gotland at När.

Tourism

An annual event on Fårö is "Fårönatta" (Fårö Night), held in September, during which restaurants and bars stay open all night, craft stands are set up and the church holds a midnight Mass.[11]

Places of interest
Fårö Fyr
Sudersand

Digerhuvud

The Digerhuvud coast with Bjärge nature reserve is the largest stack area in Sweden, with hundreds of stacks along a 3.5 km (2.2 mi) part of the coast. Close by is the Helgumannen fishing village.[14][15] The coast is not suited for swimming due to its depth (up to 80 metres (260 feet) close to the shore), and its strong currents.

An asteroid in the Asteroid belt, 10102 Digerhuvud, is named after the area.[16]

Fårö Lighthouse

The Fårö Lighthouse lies on the island's northeastern point. It is 30 metres (98 feet) high and was built between 1846 and 1847.

Langhammars

The Langhammars peninsula and the Langhammars nature reserve on north-western Fårö are rocky beaches with Ice age stone monoliths known as rauks. Langhammars was the setting for Ingmar Bergman's film Shame.[11]

Sudersand

The long, sandy Sudersand beach on north-eastern Fårö lies next to Sudersands Semesterby which rents cabins to tourists.

References
  1. "Gotland i siffror 2015" [Gotland in numbers 2015]. www.gotland.se. Gotland Municipality. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  2. "Statistisk årsbok 2011" (PDF) (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  3. Westrin, Th., ed. (908). "Fårö". Nordisk familjebok (9 (Uggleupplagan) ed.). p. 205.
  4. The exact extent of the socken, now district, can be obtained by clicking on Kartinställningar and check the Socken box in the menu of this map from the Swedish National Heritage Board database.
  5. "Förordning om district" [Regulation of districts] (PDF). Ministry of Finance. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  6. Lagerlöf, Erland; Svahnström, Gunnar (1973). Gotlands kyrkor [Gotland's Churches] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Rabén & Sjögren. p. 144. ISBN 91-29-41035-5. SELIBR 7232718.
  7. "Församlingar på Gotland". www.svenskakyrkan.se. Church of Sweden. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  8. "Visby stifts indelning 2018". www.svenskakyrkan.se. Church of Sweden. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  9. "9358 Faro (1992 DN7)". NASA. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  10. Wahlberg, Mats, ed. (2003). Svenskt ortnamnslexikon (in Swedish). Uppsala: Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore (SOFI). p. 85. ISBN 917229020X. SELIBR 8998039.
  11. Pergament, Danielle (7 October 2007). "The Enchanted Island That Bergman Called Home". The New York Times.
  12. Peary, gerald. "For movie fans, an island getaway beckons". www.boston.com. The Boston Globe. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  13. Steene, Birgitta (2005). Ingmar Bergman: A Reference Guide. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. p. 418. ISBN 9053564063.
  14. "Digerhuvud". www.gotland.net. Gotlands Media AB. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  15. Enderborg, Bernt. "Helgumannen fiskeläge". www.guteinfo.com. Guteinfo. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  16. "10102 Digerhuvud (1992 DA6)". NASA. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
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