The suspended (and secret) gardens of the Faroe Islands - Part Three
By Edu Coimbra em 20/08/06

And we reach the epilogue, the third and last chapter of the trilogy. I left to the end the most exciting and eye-catching curiosity of the Faroe Islands. A visual and architectonic spectacle which gives the title to this story: THE SUSPENDED AND SECRET GARDENS OF THE FAROE ISLANDS!

The photos, for sure, convince more than the words of this text. Most of houses have grassy and gardenlike roofs, with grass that could match top football and golf fields. There are houses of wood with bases of cement and roofs of aluminum, prepared to receive wooden boards, where the fertile soil is placed for the planting of grass clusters.

The reason for such surrealistic creation? According to the legend, it was a disguise to drive pirates away and get rid of assassin barbarians. The green roofs would serve as hiding places, as enemies only saw rocks and bushes through their monocular telescopes.

According to a scientific version, the grassy roofs resulted from the need of getting rid of the cold by heating the wood, the soil and the aluminum. As storms usually come along with hail and strong winds, the grass formation serves as absorber to the annoying noises of the rocks that fall from the sky.

Whichever version is true, one thing is certain: the intelligence of men, united to divine creation, gave birth to a spectacle of unique splendor.


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Previous articles:

20/08/06 The suspended (and secret) gardens of the Faroe Islands ...
16/08/06 The suspended (and secret) gardens of the Faroe Islands ...
15/08/06 The suspended (and secret) gardens of the Faroe Islands ...
04/03/06 Cold days in Moscow
20/12/05 Suburban surprise in Tokyo
18/11/05 Care with life
13/11/05 The locomotive engineer
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