The Skagafjörður Folk Museum is an outdoor settlement museum that was established in 1948 when the

National Museum of Iceland The National Museum of Iceland ( Icelandic: ''Þjóðminjasafn Íslands'' ) was established on 24 February 1863, with Jón Árnason the first curator of the Icelandic collection, previously kept in Danish museums. Collections The second curat ...

acquired the rights to use the old town of

Glaumbær Glaumbær is an Icelandic town and church site in the middle of Langholt, west of Héraðsvötn in Skagafjörður, formerly a part of the rural municipality Seyluhreppur. It is now home to the Skagafjörður Folk Museum. History The Glaumbær ...

at Langholt. It is also a center for housing

Skagafjörður Skagafjörður () is a deep fjord and its valley in northern Iceland. Location Skagafjörður, the fjord, is about 40 km long and 15 km wide, situated between Tröllaskagi to the east and the Skagi, Skagi Peninsula to the west. Ther ...

artifacts. The turf houses in Glaumbær were lived in up until the year 1947 when the National Museum of Iceland acquired the site. The Skagafjörður Folk Museum, founded on May 29, 1948, obtained the rights to use the town and opened an exhibition there on June 15, 1952. The museum's turf houses contain many items; most are tools related to domestic life and techniques used in an earlier era. The complex consists of thirteen turf houses, six with front-facing gables. The site is unique among Icelandic turf farms insofar as very small stones are used in the walls in a way that is rarely found in the municipality of Glaumbær. Two old wooden houses have been moved to the museum site at Glaumbær. is from Ás in

Hegranes Hegranes is the name of the peninsula between the branches of the Héraðsvötn river in Skagafjörður, Iceland. Although Hegranes is called a peninsula (its name is derived from "heron" and "peninsula"), it is actually an island about 15 kilom ...

. It was built between 1884–1886 to house Skagafjörður's women's school. It never fulfilled its original purpose and was used as a residence until 1977. It was then relocated to Glaumbær in 1991. The house is now a coffee shop, exhibit, and storage area. was originally built in Espihóll in

Eyjafjörður Eyjafjörður (, ''Island Fjord'') is one of the longest fjords in Iceland. It is located in the central north of the country. Situated by the fjord is the country's fourth most populous municipality, Akureyri. Physical geography The fjord is ...

in 1849. It was taken down in 1861 and moved to

Akureyri Akureyri (, ) is a town in northern Iceland, the country's fifth most populous Municipalities of Iceland, municipality (under the official name of Akureyrarbær , 'town of Akureyri') and the largest outside the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital R ...

. From there it was transported by boat to Kolkuós, re-built in Hjaltastaðir in

Blönduhlíð Blönduhlíð is a district in Iceland in eastern Skagafjörður that lies along the Héraðsvötn river. It spans the area from the Bóluá river in the south of and the Kyrfisá river to the north. Brekknapláss is the outermost part of in , ...

, moved to Reynistaður in 1872, to Gil in Borgarsveit in 1884, and finally to

Sauðárkrókur Sauðárkrókur () is a Localities of Iceland, town on the Skagafjörður in northern Iceland. It is the seat of both the Skagafjörður (municipality), Sveitarfélagið Skagafjörður ('Municipality of Skagafjörður') and the Northwestern Re ...

in 1891 where it stood until 1985 when it was moved to Kringlumýri in Blönduhlíð. It stayed there until 1996 and was reconstructed there to be as close to the original as possible, but little was left of the original wood after its many relocations. It now contains the museum shop and office, plus an area for the staff. In 1998 the museum acquired artifacts from Sauðárkrókur to display. The museum there also has a permanent exhibition located in the old workshops from Krókurinn, as well as special exhibitions. There are offices for employees who conduct research and engage in the preservation and dissemination of findings, and the museum's main storage facility. The museum has set up many displays in Skagafjörður, such as in

Hólar Hólar (; also Hólar í Hjaltadal ) is a small community in the Skagafjörður district of northern Iceland. Location Hólar is in the valley Hjaltadalur, some from the national capital of Reykjavík. It has a population of around 100. It is t ...

and

Hofsós Hofsós () is one of the oldest trading ports in northern Iceland dating back to the 16th century. The tiny village Hofsós in the Northern Region in Iceland was a rather busy trading post in the 17th and 18th century, but despite the merchant a ...

, and has published a variety of materials about the culture of Skagafjörður's buildings.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skagafjordur Folk Museum Museums in Iceland 1948 establishments Tourist attractions in Iceland Open-air museums Skagafjörður