Sřrvágsvatn
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Sřrvágsvatn (Leitisvatn) is the biggest lake, in the Faroe Islands. It is situated on the island of Vágar between the municipalities of Sřrvágs Kommuna and Miđvágs kommuna. The name Sřrvágsvatn means 'The lake of Sřrvágur'.
In size it is 3,4 km˛, more than three times the size of the second biggest lake Fjallavatn, which also lies on the island of Vágar.
| Contents |
The name
Among the locals there can sometimes be a fierce debate regarding the name of the lake. The inhabitants of Sřrvágur take pried in the fact, that the lake is named after their village. On the other hand, the inhabitants of Miđvágur want to name the lake Leitisvatn because on their side of the lake, the land alongside the lake is called Leiti.
Today it may seem strange to call the lake Sřrvágsvatn given the fact, that the village of Miđvágur is situated closer to the lake, than the village of Sřrvágur. The explantion to this is, that during the faroese Landnám Sřrvágur was settled before Miđvágur. Sřrvágur - alongside Břur and Sandavágur - is considered to be one of the three original Landnámsbygdum í Vágum. The three Landnámsbygdir divided the land on the island among them into three equal sizes of 60 Merkur. A division of the island into three equal portion will bring Sřrvágsvatn firmly inside the boundaries of Sřrvágur and therefore the lake has been named after this village.
The locals mostly refer to Sřrvágsvatn/Leitisvatn simply by calling it 'the Lake'. Among the inhabitants on the island everyone knows what 'the Lake' is, and it is mostly when people from other parts of the Faroes refer to the lake - either by calling it Sřrvágsvatn or Leitisvatn - that the debate will occur.
History
During World War II the British army built a airfield by the lake. They also built a station to support seaplanes. The first aircraft to land in the Faroe Islands was a Catalina from the British Navy, which landed on Sřrvágsvatn in 1941.
Places and names
Fishing
There are very good oppertunities for fishing on the lake.
 | This Faroe Islands location article is a stub. You can help Biocrawler by expanding it (http://www.biocrawler.com/w/index.php?title=S%F8rv%E1gsvatn&action=edit). |
