Tinganes

Turf-roofed peninsula where the Faroese parliament has met for over a thousand years

Tinganes is the small peninsula that juts into Tórshavn's harbour and divides it into east and west bays. The black-tarred, red-painted wooden buildings with their grass roofs house the offices of the Faroese government — the Løgmansskrivstovan (Prime Minister's Office) and several ministries are in buildings dating from the 16th to 18th centuries.

You can wander freely between the houses; there are no fences and no signs telling you to keep out. A boulder near the tip carries a runic inscription, and the views back over the harbour towards the modern town are excellent. Visit at the start of any walk around Tórshavn — everything else flows out from here.

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A story
The Norse settlers chose this rocky peninsula as their thing — assembly site — around 825 AD, which makes Tinganes one of the oldest parliamentary meeting places in the world. The Løgting still has its offices in the red-painted wooden buildings, and the ministers walk to work past tourists photographing their front doors.

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