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Mykines, Faroe Islands

Tiny Mykines the only town on the westernmost of the Faroe Islands, also named Mykines. It is a pretty little coastal town, with bright houses roofed with turf. Its turf-roofed stone church was built in 1878, to replace two prior buildings which were consecutively destroyed by storms. Its history is a litany of isolation and shipwreck. Genetic testing implies that grains were cultivated here as early as 625 A.D. Shipwrecks have providentially supplied materials needed by the small population from time to time. Today there are as many as 14 permanent residents, although in summer some expatriates return for the season. The one combination guesthouse and hostel caters box lunches for visitors, featuring the local specialty of fried puffin.