One of the places I wanted to stop in Newfoundland was Fogo Island. I learned a lot about it before, and I just wanted to see it through my own eyes. I knew they had some incredible architectural pieces, which is so true!
Where is Fogo Island located?
Once in Newfoundland, get to Port Albert- Farewell, where you can take the Ferry to Fogo Island. There are two ferries; one stops at Change Island, and the other goes to Fogo.
It took us 45 minutes to get to Fogo (but if you take the ferry that makes a stop to Channel Island, it will be more likely 1 hour 15 minutes)
I am trying to remember how much we paid for the ferry, but I remember that we had to pay once for the vehicle drivers on our way to Fogo. You don’t need to pay for the return trip to the mainland.
Here are the prices you can find about the prices:
https://www.gov.nl.ca/ti/files/ferryservices-schedules-pdf-old-fogo-ci-farewell-rates.pdf
What about Fogo Island?
Fogo Island is one of the oldest named features on the coast of Newfoundland. The Bertius map from 1606 shows Fogo Island as one of only about a dozen essential features around the coast of Newfoundland. On French maps of the 16th to 18th centuries, the island is called Ile des Fougues. The island was likely named by Portuguese explorers and early fishing crews in the 16th century (Fogo means Fire in Portuguese).
Until 1783, Fogo Island was on an area of the coast called the French Shore. Though English and Irish were not supposed to settle here, under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht, they did settle; by 1750, Fogo was a thriving part of the British mercantile system of fisheries, based out of West Country English towns such as Poole, in Dorset.
Tilting Harbour on Fogo Island is Canada’s National Cultural Landscape District and Newfoundland and Labrador’s first Provincial Heritage District. Tilting is unique for its Irish culture and, some say, its dialect. The Irish Cemetery in Tilting may be the oldest in North America.
Local oral history indicates that Tilting was originally a French harbor before becoming a venue of Irish settlement. This is highly likely, given the traditional commercial and cultural links between southern Irish and northern French fishing ports. The first Irish settled in Tilting in the 1750s, and uniquely for Newfoundland, Tilting evolved into an exclusively Irish and Catholic town by the 1780s.
Beothuk traversed Fogo Island for centuries before Irish and English settlers arrived. The Beothuk pursued the seal and salmon fisheries in the area. They also traveled to the Funk Islands to collect feathers and eggs from the birds there. In the early years of European settlement at Fogo, there were incidents of violence between the Beothuk and the Europeans. This contact ended around the year 1800. The Beothuk became extinct as a people in the late 1820s.
Fogo Island first attracted Europeans because of the extensive opportunities for commodity harvesting, including seal skins and oil, lumber, fur-bearing animals, salmon, and cod. Over time, settlers on the island concentrated on processing dried cod, mainly because that was the product that most interested the merchants who dealt in the region of Fogo. Cod was king from about 1850 until the widespread depletion of fish stocks in the 1990s. In recent years, the island’s economy has seen diversification away from solely fishing to tourism and cultural industries.
What about the famous Fogo Island Inn?
Fogo Island Inn sits on an island, off an island, at one of the four corners of the Earth. Each of their 29 one-of-a-kind guest rooms and suites has dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows that open onto the planet’s wildest and most powerful ocean. A stimulating relief from the numbing uniformity of modern times, the award-winning Inn is built on sustainability principles and respect for nature and culture. The Inn is a community asset, and 100% of operating surpluses are reinvested into the community to help secure a sustainable and resilient future for Fogo Island, Newfoundland.
Designed by Newfoundland-born architect Todd Saunders, Fogo Island Inn emerged from a 400-year-old vernacular tradition of creating seemingly temporary, although ultimately permanent, structures that are light on their feet. Originally, Newfoundland’s outport settlers were not permitted to build permanent structures or dwellings: prohibited from taking up permanent residence, our ancestors were expected to fish Fogo Island’s waters but eventually return home to England or Ireland. This led to the creation of buildings made of wood as opposed to stone and rested lightly on the landscape by using stilt wood legs – called shores – rather than fixed heavy foundations. The temporary nature of these original structures is still part of Newfoundland’s vernacular building techniques and is clearly reflected in the architecture of the Inn. Buildings in outport Newfoundland continue to be designed for economical use of materials and to be moved when needed, all while withstanding the harsh Northeast gales.
The 43,000 square-foot Inn is perched on stilts and hugs the North Atlantic coastline, affording all 29 rooms with floor-to-ceiling views of sea and sky. All rooms showcase the richness of their locality and clearly express a modern take on traditional Newfoundland outport design and décor. The Inn’s architecture is bold, optimistic, and distinctly of this place. Though radical in its design, the Inn still speaks to the traditional outport Newfoundland aesthetic.
Two floors of guest rooms sit atop the Inn’s stilts, a distinct nod to traditional outport fishing stages. These stilts, or “shores,” underpin many of the buildings on Fogo Island due to the rocky, undulating topography. They support the Inn while minimizing the overall building footprint and impact on the adjacent rocks, lichens, and berries. The Inn’s sharp angles and rough contours feel at home amidst Fogo Island’s jagged and uneven landscape.
Why should you visit Fogo Island?
For the ride and more. I did love to take the ferry to get there, and every part of the island is incredible. I did love all these architectural houses and the feeling of this wild nature on a rock. It’s a perfect place to take so many pictures; each one is beautiful without even trying!!!! I loved that the water was so clear and even for a swim. I am planning to get back there as soon as I can.
