Faroe Islands · 16th century
Skansin is a historic fortress in Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands.
Skansin is located on a hill beside the port of Tórshavn. The fort was built in 1580 by Magnus Heinason to protect against pirate/slave raids of the town, after he himself was nearly caught up in one such raid. The fort was expanded considerably in 1780 and went through a series of rebuilds for many years afterwards.
During the Second World War the fort served Britain as a military base after the British occupation of the Faroe Islands in April 1940. Two 5.5 inch guns date from the British occupation, standing along with many older Danish cannon.
One of the Faroese lighthouses, the Skansin Lighthouse (Skansin international lighthouse), towers over the fortress, pointing the way to the capital. The strategic location of the fort offers views of Tórshavn port, surrounding landscape and views out towards Nólsoy island.
Text adapted from “Skansin” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Skansin ranks #2,045 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking. Founded 1580, it is older than 34% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,546 times in the last 60 days, more than 63% of the atlas. See how Faroe Islands compares in the castle statistics.
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