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

on the hringvegur (road no. 1 or Ring Road) between Vík í Mýrdal and Höfn. It is part of the municipality of Skaftárhreppur and has about 500 inhabitants. It is surrounded by hills and plateaus to the north. Kirkjubæjarklaustur is roughly east of the capital city of Reykjavik.

Location

Kirkjubæjarklaustur 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 proper ...

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 Vatnajök ...

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

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, 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 planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

. These are basalt columns in the earth, the visible tops of which 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 approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcano, volcanic fissure eruption, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province active in the region during the Paleogene period. ...

in Ireland.

History

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

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

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

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

s, Kirkjubæjar Abbey, was located in Kirkjubæjarklaustur, until the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

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 is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. 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, (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. 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 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 ...

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

Christopher Nolan Sir Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British and American filmmaker. Known for his Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters with complex storytelling, he is considered a leading filmma ...

's 2014 movie '' Interstellar'' took place in and around Klaustur. The filmmaker, actors and crew reportedly filled up all of the hotel rooms in Klaustur when shooting was happening.

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 on June 22, 1939, whilst the lowest temperature ever recorded was on February 6, 1969.

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