Kirkjubæjarklaustur ( Icelandic for "church farm cloister", pronounced ; often referred to locally as just Klaustur) is a village in the south 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 ...

on the

hringvegur Route 1 or the Ring Road ( or ) is a national road in Iceland that circles the entire country. As a major trunk route, it is considered to be the most important piece of transport infrastructure in Iceland as it connects the majority of towns ...

(road no. 1 or Ring Road) between

Vík í Mýrdal The village of Vík (; or Vík í Mýrdal in full) is the southernmost village in Iceland, located on the main ring road around the island, around by road southeast of Reykjavík. Despite its small size (750 inhabitants in Mýrdalshreppur as ...

and

Höfn Höfn () or Höfn í Hornafirði () is an Icelandic fishing town in the southeastern part of the country. It lies near Hornafjörður fjord. The town, the second largest in the southeastern part of Iceland, offers scenic views of Vatnajökull (t ...

. It is part of the municipality of

Skaftárhreppur Skaftárhreppur () is a municipality in southern Iceland. The largest settlement is Kirkjubæjarklaustur Kirkjubæjarklaustur ( Icelandic for "church farm cloister", pronounced ; often referred to locally as just Klaustur) is a village in the ...

and has about 500 inhabitants. It is surrounded by hills and plateaus to the north. Kirkjubæjarklaustur is roughly east of the capital Reykjavik.

Location

Kirkjubæjarklaustur's geographical location makes it better known than other villages its size. It is the only place between Vík and Höfn which offers services, which includes a fuel station, a bank, a post office and a supermarket. Nearby tourist attractions include the

Laki Laki () or Lakagígar (, ''Craters of Laki'') is a volcanic fissure in the western part of Vatnajökull National Park, Iceland, not far from the volcanic fissure of Eldgjá and the small village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur. The fissure is properly ...

craters, the

Eldgjá Eldgjá (, "fire canyon") is a volcano and a canyon in Iceland. Eldgjá is part of the Katla volcano; it is a segment of a long chain of volcanic craters and fissure vents that extends northeast away from Katla volcano almost to the Vatnajöku ...

and

Skaftafell Skaftafell () is a preservation area in Öræfi, southeast Iceland. It was once a major farm, later being named a national park. Originally known as Skaftafell National Park, it was subsequently joined together with other nearby regions to form t ...

, all in

Vatnajökull National Park Vatnajökull National Park ( is, Vatnajökulsþjóðgarður ) is one of three national parks in Iceland. It encompasses all of Vatnajökull glacier and extensive surrounding areas. These include the national parks previously existing at Skaftafel ...

. An attraction close to the village is '' Kirkjugólf'' ("Church floor"), a natural pavement of

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

. These are basalt columns in the earth, but only the tops can be seen, and as the name suggests, they have the appearance of a paved church floor. This lava formation has similar origins to the

Giant's Causeway The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles (5 km) northeast of ...

in Ireland. All these attractions contribute to Kirkjubæjarklaustur being a popular stopping point for tourists.

History

Even before the time of the first Norse settlement in Iceland,

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s are thought to have lived here. Since 1186, a well known

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

Kirkjubæjar Abbey Kirkjubæjar Abbey (Icelandic: ''Kirkjubæjarklaustur''), in operation from 1186 until the Icelandic Reformation, was a monastery in Iceland of nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. It was located at Kirkjubæjarklaustur. Iceland had nine religious com ...

, was located in Kirkjubæjarklaustur, until the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in 1550. The names of the waterfall '' Systrafoss'' ("waterfall of the sisters") and of the lake ''Systravatn'' ("water of the sisters") on the highland above the village refer to this abbey. Folk tales illustrate the history with stories about good and sinful nuns. The ''Systrastapi'' (''sister's rock'') is where two of the convent's nuns were buried after being burned at the stake. One of the nuns was accused of selling her soul to the Devil, carrying Communion bread outside the church, and having carnal knowledge with men; the other was charged with speaking blasphemously of the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. After the Reformation, the second sister was vindicated, and flowers are said to bloom on her grave, but not that of the first nun. Systravatn also has a legend relating to the convent. According to the English text on the Katla Geopark sign next to the lake, the nuns frequently bathed in the lake, and one day two nuns saw a hand holding a gold comb reach out from the water. When they tried to seize the comb, they were dragged below the water and drowned. The village became well known in Iceland during the Lakagígar volcano eruptions in 1783. The pastor of the local church and dean of

Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla Iceland was historically divided into 23 counties known as ''sýslur'' (), and 23 independent towns known as ''kaupstaðir'' (). Iceland is now split up between 24 sýslumenn (magistrates) that are the highest authority over the local police ( ...

, (1728 – 1791), delivered what became known as the "Fire Sermon" (''eldmessu'' ) on July 20, 1783. The legend says that this sermon stopped the lava flow, and the village was spared at the last moment. The current church, constructed in 1974, was built in memory of Rev. Jón.''Kirkjubæjarklaustur Chapel'' (More About Iceland)
/ref> Today, the village is an important service center for the farms in the region as well as for tourists and weekend visitors. Many people from

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

, the country's capital, have weekend huts by a nearby lake.

Climate

Kirkjubæjarklaustur has a subarctic climate according to the koppen-geiger classification with warm, short summers and long, mild winters. In January Kirkjubæjarklaustur's average temperature is approximately . In July the average temperature is . The highest temperature ever recorded was whilst the lowest temperature ever recorded was .

References

External links

*
Official site (Icelandic)ExploreIceland.is
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkjubejarklaustur Populated places in Southern Region (Iceland) History of Christianity in Iceland

Location

History

Climate

See also

References

Further reading

External links