Hvolsvöllur () is a town in the south of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

about 106 km to the east of

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 ...

Overview

The name of the town literally translates to "Hillfield". ( in the genitive case) is an archaic form of the modern Icelandic word , meaning "hill", and means "field". The name is derived from the name of the historic farm (, "Stórólfur's hill"). The town of Hvolsvöllur has a population of 1,108 inhabitants. Around 900 people live the wider municipality (surrounding rural area). The

Ring Road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

(Route 1) passes through the town. 30 km east of Hvolsvöllur is the recently constructed port of

Landeyjahöfn Landeyjahöfn (), also previously referred to as Bakkafjöruhöfn , is a roll-on/roll-off Passenger terminal (maritime), ferry terminal and Harbor, harbour serving the Herjólfur ferry to Vestmannaeyjar island. It was constructed specifically for t ...

, where the ferry to

Vestmannaeyjar Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The largest island, Heimaey, has a population of 4,414, most of whom live in the archipelago's main town, Vestmannaeyja ...

(Westman Islands) operates from. Hvolsvöllur is notable in that it is one of the only Icelandic towns which is not situated on the coast or by a river. The town's economy is largely based on the service and tourism industry. It is an important service point for travellers and the local rural population serving large part of southern Iceland, the next town being Vík, 80 km to the east. The largest single employer in the area is

Sláturfélag Suðurlands Sláturfélag Suðurlands (, ; abbreviated as SS) is a producers' co-operative owned by farmers in the southern and western parts of Iceland. It was established in Þjórsárbrú on 28 January 1907 by 565 founders. One of the best known products ...

(SS), which has a large meat processing plant in the town - it notably manufactures the Icelandic SS hot dog. The town has one of the best kindergarten and primary schools in the country, as well as a sports centre housing an outdoor swimming pool. The town has a

geothermal Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to: * Geothermal energy, useful energy generated and stored in the Earth * Geothermal activity, the range of natural phenomena at or near the surface, associated with release of the Earth's internal he ...

district heating District heating (also known as heat networks) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heater, space heating and w ...

system, operated since 1981 using a 95 °C geothermal borehole from Laugaland. The transmission pipe from the borehole to the town is 23 km long. The same system also serves

Hella ''Hella'' is an American English slang term originating in and often associated with San Francisco's East Bay area in Northern California, possibly specifically emerging in the 1970s African-American vernacular of Oakland. It is used as an i ...

as well as the surrounding rural area and is currently owned by

Orkuveita Reykjavíkur Orkuveita Reykjavíkur (; English: Reykjavík Energy) is an Icelandic energy and utility company that provides electricity, geothermal district heating, mains water, sewage and telecommunications services through its subsidiaries. The company's ...

. In 2010, the

volcanic eruptions A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior h ...

Eyjafjallajökull Eyjafjallajökull (; "glacier of (the mountain) Eyjafjöll"), sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano wi ...

caused evacuations in the surrounding area, with people being relocated to Hvolsvöllur, where

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

mass care centres had been set up.

Points of Interest

The area is the scene of a well-known

saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

of Iceland, Njál's saga. Hvolsvöllur houses the LAVA Museum which focusus on Iceland's volcanic and geological history. is a Protestant church in Hvolsvöllur. It was built in 1930 and can seat 120 people. The interior was painted in 1955. Above the altar there is a painting by Þórarin B. Þorláksson, an Icelandic painter, dating from 1914 which shows

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

blessing the children. Tallest christmas light in Iceland

At the centre of the town is a 45m tall telecommunications tower, erected in 1976 and operated by Míla. In 2022 the tower was fitted with Christmas lights, which were lit up during the winter, claiming to be the 'tallest Christmas lights in Iceland'.

Climate

Similar to the rest of the southern coast of Iceland, Hvolsvöllur has a subpolar

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cfc'') with cool summers and cold winters, although relatively mild for its high latitude. Precipitation is abundant year round, with October usually seeing the most precipitation.

Sports

Ungmennafélagið Hekla Ungmennafélagið Hekla (, ) is a multi-sports club in Hella, Iceland. It fields departments in basketball, gymnastics, taekwondo and volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each tea ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hvolsvollur Populated places in Southern Region (Iceland)

Overview

Points of Interest

Climate

Sports

See also

References