Fårösund

Fårösund
Strandvägen in Fårösund
Fårösund
Coordinates: 57°52′N 19°03′E / 57.867°N 19.050°E / 57.867; 19.050Coordinates: 57°52′N 19°03′E / 57.867°N 19.050°E / 57.867; 19.050
Country	Sweden
Province	Gotland
County	Gotland County
Municipality	Gotland Municipality
Area
• Total	2.89 km2 (1.12 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2014)
• Total	800
• Density	282/km2 (730/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)

Fårösund is a locality situated on the Swedish island of Gotland with 800 inhabitants in 2014. The village can be reached by car from Visby. The island of Fårö can be reached by ferry from Fårösund.

Fårösund is the northernmost town in the municipality of Gotland in Gotland County, about 56 km (35 mi) north of Visby. Fårösund is situated on the seafront overlooking the island of Fårö and is visited by tourists during the summer, but it is usually a quiet community in the autumn, winter and spring. Until the mid-1900s it was a small quiet resort as well as a ferry terminal for ferries to Fårö. As of February 2017 the Swedish Government is attempting to buy back the former naval port and related facilities, in the face of opposition from private interests including a Russian oligarch, as part of the emergency remilitarization of Gotland in the second half of the 2010s.

Fårösund is also the name of the strait between Gotland's "mainland" and Fårö.

During the Crimean War, the fleet of the alliance opposing the Russian Empire used Fårösund as their Baltic Sea base. An artillery battery for the defense of the southern part of the inlet to Fårösund had been built in 1721, on the south shore opposite the Skarv shallows, and a blockhouse housing two 8 pounder cannons was constructed further out on the Bungenäs. After the Treaty of Nystad in 1721, these fortifications were abandoned. In 1818, Fårösund's importance as a Naval base was once again brought to light. In 1885, when it seemed like there could be a conflict between Russia and the UK, the area around the town was further fortified by placing a line of naval mines around the harbor. This escalation of the defense was made to indicate that Sweden was determined to maintain its neutrality. Therefore, a battery housing of seven 12 cm muzzle-loading guns was hastily built at the south end of the strait. Later, a similar but smaller battery was built at the north end and finally a third, for heavier artillery, southeast of the first battery. In 1900–02, the two first batteries were converted and updated with more modern armament. Since 1905, there was a coastal artillery detachment from Vaxholm Coastal Artillery Regiment (KA 1) stationed in Fårösund where barracks for the unit had been built in 1902–06.