Flatey () is an island of the western islands, a cluster of about forty large and small islands and islets located in

Breiðafjörður Breiðafjörður (, ''wide fjord'') is a large shallow bay, about 50 km wide and 125 km long, in the west of Iceland. It separates the region of the Westfjords (Vestfirðir) from the Snæfellsnes peninsula to the south. Breiðafjörðu ...

on the northwestern part of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. Flatey and its surrounding islands are, as a creation, believed to have forged from under the weight of a great glacier during the previous

Ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

. In terms of size, Flatey is some two kilometers long and about one kilometer wide, of which most is flat land (hence its name, meaning "flat island" in Icelandic), with scarcely any hills to be found. The island has a seasonal habitation; most houses there are occupied only during summer. In winter, the island's total population is five people. In spite of this, Flatey used to be one of the main cultural centres of Iceland, with its no-longer existing

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

(founded in 1172) standing on the highest point of the island as its beacon of knowledge. In the middle of the 19th century, Flatey was still a cultural and artistic centre but doubled as a hub of commerce for the northwest, having received its town charter from the Danish crown in 1777. From 1777 and on until around the latter part of the last century, Flatey enjoyed a healthy growth of its population and was for a long time, relative to size, massively populated. Due to social change and changes of production and ensuing change of values and demands in the work place, its steady population has dwindled down to the minimum needed to support the community on a regular basis, a community which, during summer and holidays, multiplies in size due to a massive influx of second home owners, regular domestic visitors and foreign tourists. The island has only a single road, which leads from the

ferry dock A ferry slip is a specialized docking facility that receives a ferryboat or train ferry. A similar structure called a barge slip receives a barge or car float that is used to carry wheeled vehicles across a body of water. Often a ferry intend ...

to the so-called "old village", which consists of some restored and traditionally-painted old houses of the island's original inhabitants. There is, of course, also the old harbour, from where besides visitors and inhabitants travelling to and fro, the island's

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

are taken over to the mainland for slaughter. Besides sheep, most of Flatey's natural life consists of various kinds of mostly migratory birds, especially the

puffin Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...

. Flatey also has a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

, built in 1926. The church's interior is painted with scenes of the island life, made by a Spanish painter, , in the 1960s in return for free accommodation when he was visiting the island. The island also inhabits the oldest and smallest library in Iceland, established in 1864. This

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

was once home to the ''

Flatey Book ''Flatey'' may refer to either of two islands in Iceland: *Flatey, Breiðafjörður * Flatey, Skjálfandi See also * ''Flateyjarbók ''Flateyjarbók'' (; "Book of Flatey") is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS ...

'', the largest of medieval Icelandic manuscripts.

References

* Þorsteinn Jósepsson, Steindór Steindórsson og Páll Líndal: Landið þitt Ísland, A-G, Örn og Örlygur, 1982. * Björn Hróarsson: Á ferð um landið, Borgarfjörður og Mýrar, Mál og menning, 1994.

External links

Flatey information

Flatey information on the Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flatey, Breidafjordur Western Region (Iceland) Populated places in Iceland Islands of Iceland