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Fårö () or Fåre in Gutnish is a
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
island just north of the island of
Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to ...
, itself off mainland
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
's southeastern coast. It is the second-largest island in the province and it is a popular summer resort. It has its own language, Faroymal, a dialect of Gutnish. Fårö is also the name of the populated area () consisting of both Fårö and Gotska Sandön islands. It comprises the same area as the administrative Fårö District, established on 1January 2016.


Geography

The island is separated from Gotland by the narrow Fårö-strait, and connected by two car ferries, operated by the
Swedish Transport Administration The Swedish Transport Administration ( sv, Trafikverket) is a government agency in Sweden, controlled by the Riksdag and the Government of Sweden. It is responsible for long-term infrastructure planning for transport: road, rail, shipping and avi ...
. It has a total area of , of which are water areas or
islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...
s. On the islands of Fårö and Gotland are rock formations called rauk. They are a result of erosion during the
Ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
and are unique to Gotland and Fårö. The medieval
Fårö Church Fårö Church ( sv, Fårö kyrka) is the main church on Fårö island in Sweden, in the Diocese of Visby. Parts of the church were built in the 14th century, but much of the building dates from reconstructions in the 18th and 19th centuries. Får ...
is on Fårö. , Fårö Church along with Gotska Sandön Chapel on Gotska Sandön belongs to Fårö
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...
in Norra Gotlands
pastorat The Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska kyrkan) is an Evangelical Lutheran national church in Sweden. A former state church, headquartered in Uppsala, with around 5.6 million members at year end 2021, it is the largest Christian denomination in Swede ...
. One of the
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
s in the
Asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, c ...
, 9358 Fårö, is named after the island.


Etymology

The name "Fårö" (in Gutnish ) is derived from the words , meaning island, and probably , which is a
word stem In linguistics, a word stem is a part of a word responsible for its lexical meaning. The term is used with slightly different meanings depending on the morphology of the language in question. In Athabaskan linguistics, for example, a verb stem ...
associated with travel like in the Swedish verb (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 , the (standard) Swedish word for
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...
, due to the many sheep on the island. That word is absent from
Modern Gutnish Gutnish ( ), or rarely Gutnic ( sv, gutniska or ), refers to the original language spoken on parts of the islands of Gotland and Fårö. The different dialects of Gutnish, while stemming from the Old Gutnish ( sv, Forngutniska) variety of Old ...
, which uses the word (which in Swedish means "lamb").


Demographics


Military past

Until the 1990s, Fårö and the North of Gotland were off-limits to foreigners because of a government military installation there. 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 The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
ended, the installation (
Swedish Coastal Artillery The Swedish Coastal Artillery ( sv, Kustartilleriet, KA) has its origin in the Archipelago Artillery that was raised in 1866. The Coastal Artillery was formed from the Archipelago Artillery, the Marine Regiment and parts of the Artillery in 1902 ...
regiment KA 3) was mostly shut down. A relic of the island's military past is a tall radio mast at Holmudden at .


Cinematic heritage

Swedish filmmaker
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known as "profoun ...
lived and died on Fårö and several of his films were filmed there, among them '' Through a Glass Darkly'' (1961), ''
Persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatr ...
'' (1966), ''
Hour of the Wolf ''Hour of the Wolf'' ( sv, Vargtimmen, lit=The Wolf Hour) is a 1968 Swedish psychological horror film directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann. The story explores the disappearance of fictional painter Johan Borg ...
'' (1968), ''
Shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...
'' (1968), ''
The Passion of Anna ''The Passion of Anna'' ( sv, En passion – "A passion") is a 1969 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, who was awarded Best Director at the 1970 National Society of Film Critics Awards for the film. Plot The audience is ...
'' (1969), and ''
Scenes from a Marriage ''Scenes from a Marriage'' ( sv, Scener ur ett äktenskap) is a 1973 Swedish television miniseries written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Over the course of six hour-long episodes, it explores the disintegration of the marriage between Mariann ...
'' (1973), as well as
Liv Ullmann Liv Johanne Ullmann (born 16 December 1938) is a Norwegian actress and film director. Recognised as one of the greatest European actresses of all time, Ullmann is known as the muse and frequent partner of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. She acted in m ...
’s ''
Faithless Faithless are an English band that formed in 1995, with its core members being Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. Their first album, '' Reverence'', was released in 1996 and their most recent, ''All Blessed'', in 2020. They have sold milli ...
'' (2000), based on a Bergman screenplay. The
Bergman Week Bergman Week ( sv, Bergmanveckan) is an annual event organized by the Bergmancenter on the small island Fårö in Sweden. Ingmar Bergman moved to the island in the 1960s and the Bergman Week is a celebration of his artistry, with films, lectures and ...
is a tribute to the filmmaker held on the island every June. Fårö itself is the subject of Bergman's documentary films ''
Fårö Document ''Fårö Document'' is a 1970 Swedish documentary film directed by Ingmar Bergman. It was shot on the island of Fårö and is about its inhabitants. Subject Speaking in 1969, Bergman identifies Fårö as a small island near Gotland, with a popu ...
'' (1970) and ''Fårö Document 1979''.
Andrei Tarkovsky Andrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky ( rus, Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐrˈsʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tɐrˈkofskʲɪj; 4 April 1932 – 29 December 1986) was a Russian filmmaker. Widely considered one of the greates ...
wanted to film '' The Sacrifice'' on Fårö but was denied access by the military, instead it was filmed further south on
Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to ...
at När.
Mia Hansen-Løve Mia Hansen-Løve (born 5 February 1981) is a French film director, screenwriter, and former actress. She has won several accolades for her work. Her first feature film, '' All Is Forgiven'', won the Louis Delluc Prize for Best First Film in 2007 ...
filmed and set her film ''
Bergman Island ''Bergman Island'' is a 2021 romantic drama film written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve. It stars Vicky Krieps, Tim Roth, Mia Wasikowska and Anders Danielsen Lie. Krieps and Roth play a married couple of filmmakers spending a working retrea ...
'' (2021) on Fårö.


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.


Places of interest


Digerhuvud

The Digerhuvud coast with Bjärge
nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...
is the largest
stack Stack may refer to: Places * Stack Island, an island game reserve in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia, in Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group * Blue Stack Mountains, in Co. Donegal, Ireland People * Stack (surname) (including a list of people ...
area in Sweden, with hundreds of stacks along a part of the coast. Close by is the Helgumannen fishing village. The coast is not suited for swimming due to its depth (up to close to the shore), and its strong currents. An
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
in the
Asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, c ...
, 10102 Digerhuvud, is named after the area.


Fårö Lighthouse

The '' Fårö Lighthouse'' lies on the island's northeastern point. It is 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 An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...
stone monoliths known as rauks. Langhammars was the setting for
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known as "profoun ...
's film ''
Shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...
''.


Sudersand

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


References


External links


Objects from Fårö at the Digital Museum
by Nordic Museum
Gotland Tourist Association — Fårö
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faro Gotland Swedish islands in the Baltic Islands of Gotland County Military history of Sweden Cultural heritage of Sweden Cinema of Sweden Ingmar Bergman