The Magnus Cathedral is the largest medieval building in the Faroe Islands and the most striking ruin in the archipelago. Construction began around 1300 under Bishop Erlendur, and the roofless shell of Gothic arches that resulted is now under a large protective timber shelter while conservation work slowly stabilises the walls. The cathedral was dedicated to Saint Magnus, Earl of Orkney, whose relics were originally housed here before being moved to Orkney.
The building was already in decay when the Reformation reached the Faroes in 1537 and abolished the diocese. For the next four centuries it stood exposed, its carved stonework slowly weathering in the salt air. The ongoing restoration project, begun in the 1990s, is painstaking: mortar is injected, the structure is monitored, and the hope is eventual inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The interior can be viewed through the open arches, and the Gothic tracery of the windows gives a clear sense of the ambition behind this building — this was meant to be a cathedral to rival anything in Scandinavia.