The village is located on the south-west coast of Streymoy and has a view towards the islands of Hestur and Koltur towards the west, and to Sandoy towards the south.

At that time it was the episcopal residence for the Diocese of the Faroe Islands and as such the spiritual centre of the society.

The majority of these houses were washed away by a fierce storm in 1602, which created the islet Kirkjubøhólmurin, which contains ruins from that time.

It is speculated that the church located the diocese in Kirkjubø, to counter the heathen Vé in Velbastaður only 5 km to the north west up the coast.

[6] There are three main attractions from this time: The medieval carved pew ends from Saint Olav's Church are now to be found in the National Museum of the Faroe Islands.