Sights in The South
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Sel
The traditional turf-roofed farmhouse Sel, built in Burstir style in 1912, is worth a glance. There’s not much inside, but it’s always open and the hill just above offers a good photo opportunity of the farmhouse and the grey sandar stretching out to the coast.
reviewed
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Kirkjubæjarstofa Exhibition
Ongoing archaeological digs have unearthed 14th- and 15th-century convent houses (at the northeast corner of the old churchyard). If you want to know more, visit the small Kirkjubæjarstofa exhibition.
reviewed
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Aquarium & Natural History Museum
The Aquarium & Natural History Museum has an interesting collection of stuffed birds and animals, plus fish tanks of hideous Icelandic fish and a live video link to a puffin colony. The museum acts as a hospital for puffin chicks.
reviewed
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Vatnajökoll National Park
In June 2008, Vatnajökoll National Park was founded, joining the Vatnajökull ice cap and the former Skaftafell and Jökulsárgljúfur National Parks to form one 12,000 sq km megapark – 11% of the entire country. In practice, not much has changed on the ground (although four new visitor centres at Skríðuklaustur, Höfn, Mývatn and Kirkjubæjarklaustur are being built over the next few years). The park’s creation is predominantly a political move to draw attention to the alarming speed at which the ice is melting.
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‘Pompei of the North’
Four hundred buildings lie buried under the 1973 lava. On the edge of the flow is an eerie graveyard where beloved homes rest in peace. ‘Pompei of the North’ is a modern ‘archaeological’ excavation in which 10 houses are being dug up. So far, the crumpled concrete remains of four houses have been unearthed along what was formerly Suðurvegur.
reviewed
