Austurstræti (, 'East Street') is a street in central

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, Iceland, that runs from Veltusund east to

Lækjargata Lækjargata (, "stream street") is a street in downtown Reykjavík and takes its name from the stream that once ran along the street, from the Tjörnin to the sea. History Settlement period In Spring 2015, the remains of a 22 metre long tenth ...

. In its continuation is

Bankastræti Bankastræti (, ) is a street in Reykjavík's city centre which runs from the west ends of Laugavegur (Reykjavík), Laugavegur and Skólavörðustígur to the intersection at Lækjartorg. It has, since the nineteenth century, been one of the main ...

and

Laugavegur Laugavegur () is a hiking trail in South Iceland. It is the most popular trail in Iceland, with an estimated 75,000-100,000 people hiking it every year. In 2012, National Geographic listed it as one of the twenty best trails in the world. Lau ...

. On 18 April 2007, a fire broke out in Austurstræti that destroyed two historic houses, but caused no injuries.

Names

Austurstræti was first called or (). The street was so named because its south side was paved with stone so people could walk over it despite heavy rain.

In popular culture

* Comedian

Laddi Þórhallur Sigurðsson (born 20 January 1947), best known as Laddi, is an Icelandic comedian, actor, voice actor and entertainer known for comedy music and comedy acting. Laddi has dubbed many characters into Icelandic, in films and TV shows lik ...

sang about Austurstræti in a popular pop song with the same name. Its opening lines are: () * The pop song "Fröken Reykjavík" by Jónas and Jón Múla Árnason begins with the question: () * Poet Tómas Guðmundsson wrote the poem "", which includes the lines: ()

References

Shopping districts and streets in Iceland Streets in Reykjavík Tourist attractions in Iceland {{Iceland-geo-stub