Raufarhöfn () is a village located on the northeastern tip of the Melrakkaslétta peninsula in

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 ...

History

At one point in time, this small village was home to largest export harbor in Iceland. In the forties and fifties, the

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

frenzy dominated the Icelandic economy and Raufarhöfn was an important place in that economic chain. But after the herring were fished out, the effect was devastating for the village. As of 2019, it had 188 inhabitants. The village is also the site of a modern monument called the "Arctic Henge" which is aligned to the heavens and is inspired by the mythical world of the Eddic poem ''

Völuspá ''Völuspá'' (also ''Vǫluspá'', ''Vǫlospá'', or ''Vǫluspǫ́''; Old Norse: 'Prophecy of the völva, a seeress') is the best known poem of the ''Poetic Edda''. It dates back to the tenth century and tells the story from Norse Mythology of ...

'' (Prophecy of the Seeress).

Sights

The church was built in 1928 by

Guðjón Samúelsson Guðjón Samúelsson (16 April 1887 – 25 April 1950) was a State Architect of Iceland, and the first Icelander to be educated in architecture. He has been described as one of Iceland's most influential architects. His notable designs include th ...

, one of the most important Icelandic architects, and inaugurated on 1 January 1929. It was renovated in 1979. Circa 1996, a large stone monument, "Arctic Henge" (''Heimskautsgerði'' in Icelandic), was constructed close to the village. Inspired by historic

stone circles A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being bu ...

as of 2021 the site is still under construction.

Geography and climate

The climate is tundra (Koppen: ET). As the northernmost community of mainland

, Raufarhöfn is also the coldest with an annual average of .

Transport

Raufarhöfn Airport is located approximately south of the village.

References

External links