Koltur ( da, Kolter) is an island in the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

, located to the west of

Streymoy Streymoy ( da, Strømø) is the largest and most populated island of the Faroe Islands. The capital, Tórshavn, is located on its southeast coast. The name means "island of currents". It also refers to the largest region of the country that also i ...

and to the north-west of

Hestur Hestur ( da, Hestø) is an island in the central Faroe Islands, to the west of Streymoy and the south of Koltur. ''Hestur'' means ''horse'' in Faroese. On the west coast is a guillemot colony. In the north there is moorland with four small lakes, ...

. The name 'Koltur' means ' colt', in contrast with the name of the larger island to the south-east, 'Hestur', which means 'horse'. The island has just one settlement, Koltur. It was abandoned in the 1980s by the sheep-farmers whose flocks grazed on the southern part of the island. Since then only two people have returned (in 1994). Koltur has two mountains, Kolturshamar (478 m) and Fjallið (101m) which strictly speaking is not a mountain, the name however translates directly as "The Mountain" and is considered by many as the smallest mountain in the country. The island supports 160 adult sheep.

History

Archaeological excavations have found that

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

has been cultivated on the island as far back as 800-900AD, in the early

Viking age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

. And it has been cultivated up to near modern times, as straw from Koltur was considered the best for

thatching Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...

, because there are no mice in the island to diminish the quality of the straw. There have been two settlements on the islands, Heima í Húsi and Norðuri í Gerði. There is a story that the two families who lived there couldn't agree about anything and never helped each other with anything, this went on for generations and in the end, it was forgotten what the original argument was about. Though the place-name ''Trætumørkin'''','' hints at the argument being about a parcel of land. All

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and ...

for fuel had to be cut at Syðradal and Fossdal on

or later in Skopun, Sandoy, and then transported by boat back to Koltur where it was stored in houses at Gróthústanga. Heima í Húsi is the older settlement, and it contains two farms, Niðri í Húsi and Uppi í Búð, and it is thought it is the original settlement on the island. The buildings are remarkably well preserved, and although they have had running repairs through the centuries there has been very little modernization compared to the rest of the country, and thus give a great insight into how people have lived in the past. Norðuri í Gerði is a younger settlement, but the old buildings here are in much worse condition, though in the ''Jarðarbókini'' from 1584 it is confirmed that this settlement already had been built by then. This is the location of the only inhabited house today. In 1890 there were 42 people living on the island, spread over 6 families. 1954 was the last time anyone was buried in the cemetery. The cemetery lies some 600 metres to the north-east of the settlement of Norðuri í Gerði; the isolation from the settlement is said to be due to its being haunted, as it could often go long stretches of time before a priest came to the island to throw earth on the grave, and put the dead properly to rest according to custom. * 1987 - Føroya Forngripafelag calls on the authorities to come up with a plan for preserving the historically important locations. * 1990 - The plan for conservation and continued habitation is put forward * 1992 - 11 June, the authorities decide upon the future course of conservation, habitation and continued running of the farm. * 1994 - The farm Norðuri í Gerði is inhabited. * 1991 - 1996 Some buildings in the two settlements Norðuri í Gerði and Heima í Húsi are repaired. * 1996 - 2000 Fornminninevndin puts forward in 1996 a suggestion to expand the conservation of the settlements, the suggestion is approved in 2000 * 2000 - 2012 Conservational work is done in various stages, with funding coming from various sources, most notably in 2008 the Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond donates 5 million Dkk to the restoration project. In 2012 the project is deemed complete, and is now open as a museum. * The aim now is to get Koltur classed as a national park, it is the only island which is run as an

organic farm Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...

Transport

There is a regular helicopter connection all around the year, operated by

Atlantic Airways Atlantic Airways (, Faroese: Atlantsflog) is the national airline of the Faroe Islands, operating domestic helicopter services and international passenger services as well as search and rescue responsibilities from its base at Vágar Airport ...

. In summertime there is also a boat connection from Gamlarætt and

Tórshavn Tórshavn (; lit. " Thor's harbour"), usually locally referred to as simply ''Havn'', is the capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the northwest of the city lies the ...

Important Bird Area

Most of the coastline of the island has been identified as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

because of its significance as a breeding site for

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same envir ...

s, especially

European storm petrel The European storm petrel, British storm petrel, or just storm petrel (''Hydrobates pelagicus'') is a seabird in the northern storm petrel family, Hydrobatidae. The small, square-tailed bird is entirely black except for a broad, white rump and ...

s (5000 pairs),

Atlantic puffin The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin is found in the northeastern ...

s (20,000 pairs) and

black guillemot The black guillemot or tystie (''Cepphus grylle'') is a medium-sized seabird of the Alcidae family, native throughout northern Atlantic coasts and eastern North American coasts. It is resident in much of its range, but large populations from the ...

s (50 pairs).BirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Koltur. Downloaded from on 2012-02-23. It was once a breeding ground for the extinct

great auk The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis'') is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus ''Pinguinus''. It is not closely related to the birds now known as penguins, wh ...

Gallery

File:Old House in Koltur, June 2014.JPG, Old stone and wooden houses with turf roof in Koltur File:Port of Koltur Faroe Islands.JPG, The port of Koltur File:Koltur View towards North.JPG, View from the southern mountain of Koltur File:Koltur 7 June 2014.JPG, Koltur, view to the farmhouse File:The Sandy Beach of Koltur.JPG, The sandy beach of Koltur and the old houses ''Heimi í Garði'' File:Koltur Faroe Islands the West Cost.JPG, The cliffs of Koltur's west coast

References

External links

Personal website
with 6 aerial photos of Koltur {{Authority control Islands of the Faroe Islands Populated places in the Faroe Islands Important Bird Areas of the Faroe Islands