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The
abandoned farm Kalfanes is situated just north of hamlet Holmavik and
the local airport was built on a part of the property.
The hamlet is also situated within the boundaries of the
property. Kalfanes was a
church site until after 1709, but forty years later no church is
documented there. Written
sources tell us about the consecration of the first church in 1182.
When the country’s only saint, bishop Thorlakur the Holy, was
visiting the churches of the Northwest, he also visited Kalfanes, where
a new church was already standing. It was dedicated to the Holy Mother, John the Baptist, the
apostle Peter and King Olaf the Holy of Norway. Services were held there every second Sunday and also on days
dedicated to its patron saints. Presumably
the church was used for christenings, weddings and funerals as well and
somewhere around it should be a cemetery.
The
Bishops’ Sagas tell us about bishop Gudmundur the Good, who also
travelled through the area once and consecrated a cold spring in the
proximity of the most travelled route at Kalfanes. The Land Register of 1709 reveals the advantages of the farm
as one of the larges properties of the District, trout and char fishing
in Rivers Osa and Trollkonusiki, lichens and brushwood for fuel.
The farm was abandoned in 1940 and the houses were disassembled
to build a dwelling for the District Sheriff at Holmavik.
Only the concrete cellar of the farmhouse is still standing.
A
very rare plant, related to the common nettle (Urtica dioeca) grows on
the farm mound, where the area it covers looks like a dark spot in the
landscape. This plant is
mentioned in written sources from the 18th century and
praised for its healing power. Its
root was boiled in wine and honey and the brew used against lung
diseases. In Sweden and
England its fibres were used to make cloth and paper. |