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Kvívík is one of the oldest settlements in the Faroes and excavations have shown the remains of Viking houses. Excavations prove that it dates back over 1,000 years probably to the 10th century, when a Viking longhouse and barn were built beside a small river flowing through a valley to the sea. House and barn stood at the point where the river entered the sea.
Both the longhouse and its barn are unique. The longhouse, measuring 72 feet by 20 feet, is immense by Faroese standards and was built of a double row of stone with earth and gravel in between as insulation. The bottom rows of stone still remain, but the roof — probably of birch bark and turf — has long since disappeared. In the middle of the longhouse was a narrow, 23-foot fire pit used for cooking and heating.
Parallel to the longhouse stood a barn divided into storage and stalls for a dozen cows. It, too, was large, measuring 33 feet by 12 feet. Nothing like it has been discovered elsewhere in the Faroes.
During excavation at Kvivik, everyday household objects were uncovered: spindles, fishing gear, oil lamps, ropes made of juniper, weights for looms and, most touchingly, children’s toys. All these are on display in the Historical Museum in Tórshavn.
References:The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built. They were also the largest and strongest fortification in both the ancient and medieval world.
Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, protecting it against attack from both sea and land. As the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian Walls was built in the 5th century. Although the other sections of the walls were less elaborate, they were, when well-manned, almost impregnable for any medieval besieger.