Oldest Wooden House In Europe

While researching for my earlier post about the "Amazing Turf Houses of Iceland", I came across an old turf-roofed house in the small village of Kirkjubøur on the the island of Streymoy in Faroe Islands. As per several sources, it is one of the oldest still inhabited wooden houses of the world and reportedly the  oldest inhabited wooden house in all of Europe. (Please see the note at the end of this post)

The house dates back to 11th century and was originally the residence of the bishop of the Diocese of the Faroe Islands. As per local legend the house was initially constructed in Norway, then disassembled, its logs numbered and then floated to the Kirkjubøur where these were reassembled.

The house and the big farm around it are called Kirkjubøargarður (King's Farm) and are now owned by Faroese government. Its main portion, called  Roykstovan, houses a museum, however a part of the house is still occupied by a local family whose past several generations are the traditional tenant since 16th century.

It is interesting to note that although this house and several other houses on the Island have turf roof yet these are a bit different from the turf houses of Iceland. The walls of these houses are made of wood, unlike the houses in Iceland where the walls are also covered with layers of earth and then turfed.

Image from Picasaweb is by Stanisław Soluch ...

Image from Wikimedia Commons is by Vincent van Zeijst

Image from Flickr is by Stig Nygaard

360^o Panoramic View of inside;

Roykstovan in Kirkjubour in Faroe Islands

View location in Google Earth / Google Maps

Source of info: Wikipedia / Flickr Photo by foroyar22 (Charlie Kellogg)

Note: Several websites especially those of Swiss origin claim that a wooden house known as Bethlehem House (Bethlehem-Haus) in the small village of Schwyz Switzerland is the oldest in Europe. As per swissinfo.ch and other related websites the Bethlehem House was built in 1287, while the Kirkjubøargarður in the Kirkjubøur dates back to 11th century. The claim that the house in Switzerland is the oldest in Europe, therefore doesn't appear to be correct.

It may also be worthwhile to note that the World's Oldest Wooden Building is a five-story pagoda in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan, which dates back to early seventh century.

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