Country Sweden County Gotland County Time zone CET (UTC+1) Population 485 (2014) | Province Gotland Municipality Gotland Municipality Area 20 km² | |
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Fardhem is a settlement on the island of Gotland, Sweden. Formerly a socken, on 1 January 2016, it was reconstituted into the administrative area Fardhem District. The area is rural with farms, tourism and small companies as the main sources of income. It is home to football club Fardhem IF.
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Map of 623 52 Fardhem, Sweden
Geography
Fardhem is the name of the socken, now district. It is also the name of the small village surrounding the medieval Fardhem Church, sometimes referred to as Fardhem kyrkby. It is situated on southern Gotland about 2 km (1.2 mi) northwest of Hemse. Most of the socken consists of farmed plains on land reclaimed from the drained Mästermyr to the south. Many of the farmed fields still have the same boundaries as in the 18th century.
In the middle of Fardhem is the Sandarve kulle nature reserve. Situated on a hill it covers 15 ha (37 acres) at an elevation of about 60 m (200 ft). It was established in 1984.
History
The locality is mentioned as Farþhaim in the 14th century Gutasaga. The last part of the name hem means "dwelling" or "farm" and the first part fardh means "trail" or "a place where you can travel", it may refer to the Ancylus wall, a remaining bank of the Ancylus Lake that made a good "road" to travel on.
The area has been populated since the Bronze Age. There are grave fields, house foundations, groove stones and two hillforts from the Iron Age. One runestone and a silver treasure from the Viking Age have also been found in Fardhem.
The locality has a wool mill and weapons repair shop.