Tinganes peninsula is so small that it is a part of the Faroese capital, Tórshavn, and is considered its landmark. It divides the harbor into two parts and it’s called the historical centre of the city. A trip to this place can be compared to time travel. Winding cobbled streets, colorful wooden houses with grass roofs, everything here looks the same as several centuries ago. 

In 1673, a catastrophe happened here, a huge fire destroyed nearly all the Tórshavn. The residents refused to accept this reality and all the buildings were successfully restored. At first sight, it may seem that all these bright, toylike buildings are the artificial decoration of the town. However, like in the past, all of them are used for their intended purpose. Some of them are administrative buildings and belong to the government, the others are residential units. Although Tinganes itself is recognized as a landmark, there are some historical monuments of Medieval architecture within its territory. They are the royal storage of the 13th century, Leigubúðin, and the monastery of the 15th century, surrounded by a stone wall, Munkastovan. 

It’s better to start a walk around the town lost in time with the main street of Tinganes called Gongin. It is fully occupied by the buildings of the 16th – 17th centuries and it leads straight to one of the oldest parliaments on Earth – The Løgting, which literally means Law Ting. In the past Scandinavian assemblies, where laws were created and approved, leaders and kings were chosen, used to be called Tings. The Saga of the Faroe Islanders first mentioned the parliamentary assembly in that place in 979. At that time, it was called Althing like the oldest parliament in Iceland. After merging with Norway and Denmark the people’s assembly turned into the council of 6 representatives of the islands headed by its chairman – Løgmaður. It was named Løgting and pozed as Supreme Court. In 1816, the Danish government eliminated the council, but 36 years later re-introduced it again. Nowadays, the Løgting holds sessions in a different part of Tórshavn, but the government and the prime-minister residence are still located on the territory of Tinganes.