Eyrarbakki () is a fishing village on the south coast 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 ...

with a population of about 570 people, not including inhabitants of the prison located there. The village is founded on the Great

Þjórsá Lava The Great Þjórsá Lava ( Icelandic: ''Þjórsárhraunið mikla'' ) is the largest lava flow in Iceland (by both area and volume) and the largest lava that is known to have erupted in a single eruption in the Holocene. It belongs to a group of lav ...

History

For centuries, the harbour at Eyrarbakki was the main port in the south of the country, and Eyrarbakki was the trading centre for the whole of the southern region extending from Selvogur in the west to Lómagnúpur in the east. By about 1925, however, Eyrarbakki lost its importance as a trading centre. The latter part of the 19th century saw a great increase in the number of oared fishing boats. In fact, although trade and fishing were the main occupations in Eyrarbakki, the natural harbour conditions were not good, and after the bridging of the nearby River

Ölfusá The Ölfusá () is a river in Iceland. It begins at the junction between the Hvítá and Sog rivers, just north of the town of Selfoss, and flows for 25 km into the Atlantic ocean. It is Iceland's largest river by volume with an average ...

, the harbour fell into disuse. In 985 C.E.,

Bjarni Herjólfsson Bjarni Herjólfsson ( 10th century) was a Norse- Icelandic explorer who is believed to be the first known European discoverer of the mainland of the Americas, which he sighted in 986. Life Bjarni was born to Herjólfr, son of Bárdi Herjólfsso ...

, a young merchant, sailed from Eyrarbakki headed for

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

, but instead reached as far as North America. Upon his arrival in Greenland, Bjarni told

Leif Eriksson Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have set foot on continental North ...

of his discovery and sold him his boat, which Eriksson used for his own journey to North America. The oldest building in the village, Húsið ("The House"), is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

kit home Kit may refer to: Places *Kitt, Indiana, US, formerly Kit * Kit, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Province * Kit Hill, Cornwall, England People * Kit (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Kit (surname) Animals * Young animal ...

dating from 1765 and is the oldest preserved timber dwelling house in Iceland. It now houses

the Árnesinga Folk Museum ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

. The church in Eyrarbakki was built in 1890; its altarpiece was painted by Queen Louise of Denmark, wife of

King Christian IX Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein- ...

, great-great-grandfather of

Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during h ...

and King

Harald V of Norway Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...

. The primary school, established in 1852, is the oldest in the country. Today Eyrarbakki is like a museum with many interesting old houses that the village and residents have renovated. The town is of great historical importance because of its role in fishing and trading history.

Economy

The most recent enterprises in Eyrarbakki have been a fish-processing plant, and an aluminum frying-pan plant. However, the main fish factory closed in the 1990s, and the frying-pan factory has closed as well. The nearby prison,

Litla-Hraun Litla-Hraun (, "Little Lava") is the largest prison in Iceland. Located just outside Eyrarbakki, it consists of nine buildings inside a high-security fence. Litla-Hraun was founded on March 8, 1929, as a single building. Inside the fence is a ...

, the largest in Iceland, is one of the town's main employers. In addition, there are a few small farms, with the traditional Icelandic horse breed. Tourism is another mainstay of the small economy.

Climate

References

External links

Eyrarbakki - WebsiteBjarni Herjólfsson discovers AmericaRein - Guesthouse in EyrarbakkiEyrarbakki- Historical website

More information and photos about Eyrarbakki on Hit Iceland
{{Authority control Populated places in Southern Region (Iceland)