History and Culture

The first lighthouse in Iceland was built on Valahnúkur in Reykjanes inthe year 1878. By 1905 earthquakes and surf had damaged Valahnúkurso much that there was the risk of the lighthouse falling into the sea. A new lighthouse was therefore built in 1907-1908 on Bæjarfell hill in Reykjanes and the old one was demolished with an explosion on april 16th 1908. A survey which Rögnvaldur Guðmundsson supervised in 2007 for the Icelandic Maritime Administration led to the conclusion that Reykjanes lighthouse was the most popular lighthouse among Icelanders. The lightsignal height is 69 meters above sealevel but the actual height of the lighthouse is 26 metres. Reykjanes lighthouse also has a radio beacon with a correction signal. There is carved rock and concrete in the lighthouse. Architect Frederik Kjørboe and engineer Thorvald Krabbe designed the lighthouse. The operationof Reykjanes Lighthouse is under the supervision of the Icelandic Maritime Administration.  

Ruins of farm partly covered by lava flow. The Húshólmi area is a so called „clearing“ over which the lava Ögmundarhraun didn´t flow during an eruption in the year 1151. The lava came flowing from vulcanic craters on the east side of Núpshlíðarháls hill down to the shore. According to archaeologists, in the western part of the „clearing“ are ruins of the ancient Krýsuvík farm, dated back since before the year 900. Among the ruins are presumably parts of a home, a church and a semetary. Húshólmi is a popular outdoor area and a interesting site worth visiting. 

The church at Hvalsnes was consecrated in 1887. Ketill Ketilsson farmer and ship owner at Kotvogur, who then owned the land at Hvalsnes financed the building of the church. The church is preserved and is completely built of carved stone collected from the local plentiful area of rock. All of the wood in the interior was collected from the shores nearby. Extensive repairs were made to the church in 1945 under the supervision of the architect of the state. One of the most remarkable items of the church is the gravestone of Steinunn Hallgrímsdóttir who died when she was 4 years old in 1649. She was the daughter of Hallgrímur Pétursson Iceland's most important psalmist which at that time served as a priest at the parish in Hvalsnes. The gravestone was lost for a long time but was discovered again in 1964 but it had been used as a part of a walkway leading to the church.The church is still operating today and fits 100 people.   

In front of the terminal stands Regnboginn (e. the Rainbow) by the Icelandic artist Rúrí. The work leaves a strong impression on the environment as the rainbow rises from the ground in an open environment and ascends into the sky. The work is made of stainless steel tubes and stained glass. The colours of the rainbow are created with 313 yellow, red, green and blue stained glass units. The work rises from slabs of Icelandic grey stone and stretches 24 meters into the sky. About the work, Rúrí says: "The rainbow is unfinished - I imagine that sometime later, after a hundred or a thousand years, the thread will be picked up again where it left off, and the construction will continue. It will then climb skywards higher and higher before starting its descent, until at last touching the earth and thereby completing the rainbow.”  The work was made in 1991 and was one of two works that won first prize in a competition for works of art at the Airport. To find out more about her creative work, please visit her official website: https://www.ruri.is

The artwork Íslands Hrafnistumenn by Erlingur Jónsson was unveiled in 2008 at Stóra-Voga field. During the time of rowboats, Vatnsleysuströnd was one of the largest fishing stations in the country. The artwork was created as a tribute to seafaring and fishing from Vogur and Vatnsleysuströnd. Birgis Þórarinsson from Minna-Knarrarnes, along with the help of Birgis Guðnason from the Erling Jónsson Art Museum, proposed the idea of a monument. They approached Erlingur with the idea of creating an artwork that paid homage to seafaring and fishing from Vogur and Vatnsleysuströnd. Erlingur, being from Vatnsleysuströnd himself, enthusiastically responded to the idea, and thus the work Íslands Hrafnistumenn was created. The artist Erlingur Jónsson was born at Móakot on Vatnleysuströnd in 1920, he passed away in Reykjanesbær in 2022. Erlingur was an artist who created numerous sculptures found in Reykjanesbær and other places. Erlingur was a crafts teacher in Keflavík for a long time, and later he went to Norway to continue his arts education and later worked as an art teacher.

Selatangar was a big fishing outfit between Grindavik and Krysuvik. It was abolished after 1880. Extended ruins of the abodes and other houses are still very prominent in the landscape. They have been declared inviolate. During the latter part of the 19th century ghosts started haunting the settlement. Driftwood was in abundance at Selatangar in the past, but less nowadays. The surroundings are grandious, low mountains and lava fields. How to get there: A track for 4wd-vehicles lies down to the ruins on the coast from the road to Isolfsskali.

A glass artwork that depicts the Tyrkjaránið (The Turks invasion) By Einar Lárusson is located at Grindavík Church.  The artwork depicts the time when pirates from Algeria and Morocco ended up in Grindavik in June 1627. After they had attacked Westman Island, they continued their journey to Grindavík, where they stole people and valuables. Algerian and Moroccan pirates were known as "Turks" in Iceland, as Algeria and Morroco were then a part of the Ottoman Empire. They seized Icelanders and Danes and sold them into slavery in North Africa. No one was killed in the raid in Grindavík, though two were injured. Some of the enslaved prisoners were later ransomed and eventually returned to Iceland. One of them was Guðrún Símonardóttir, who later married the Rev. Hallgrímur Pétursson, the author of the Hymns of the Passion. Later that same summer, there was another well-known Turks invasion of Iceland  By the artwork, there are information signs in 6 languages providing the history of the invasion. 

Krýsuvík church was built in 1857 and is a typical Icelandic country church from the 19th century. The church was discontinued as a parish church in 1929 and for a time used as a living quarters. In earlier times this was the site of a large and prosperous estate with numerous dependencies. The farm was abandoned around 1950 and then restored in 1964. The church is now under the protection of the National Museum.

Place of execution according to an old folk story.  Cliffs, two of which are quite high, with an inlet several fathoms deep between them. A tree between was laied between the two cliffs and men hanged from it a punishment for serious crimes.   Location: About 1 km from Básendar, short walk from road 45

Junkaragerdi was a farm just north of the Hafnarberg Cliffs.  Its name was probably derived from 12-18 foreigner, who lived there, and were called "Junkers".  They were said to be heavy drinkers, strong men, and womanizers.  The neighbours wanted to get rid of them, and one night they damaged the rowlocks of their boats.  The Junkers went fishing in the early morning and during the day they encountered bad weather and the rowlocks broke.  The Junkers then supported the oars with their knees and got back home.  The next time their oars were sawn half through and the saw marks were hidden.  The Junkers went fishing and never came back. Copy right: www.nat.is  Used by permission.

Hafurbjarnarstadir is a farm on Gardskagi. Next to the property is Skagagarður the great stone wall that was between Skagatá and Garðskagi and there it got the name. This place is really important for the history because a burial site was discoverd. Some bones and antiquities were found in 1868 and moved to Antiquarian Museum in Reykjavik. In 1947 9 graves were discovered and 7 or 8 bodies, bones of dogs and horses. More antiquities were discoverd like arms, jewellery and most likely remains of boat grave.    

By the initiative of Ásbjörn Ólafsson, a farmer in Innri-Njarðvík, a church was built on the location. The church was consegrated in 1886 and is made from carved rock which was brought from the shore nearby and the heath above the inhabitated area. Magnús Magnússon (1842-1887) organized the carving of the rocks. One of the three clocks in the churchtower is an ancient clock made in 1725. The Church in Innri-Njarðvík is preserved.

The trolls are stone figures that can be found around Reykjanesbær, and they make a big impression on the environment. Áki Gränz created the figures, he was an artist and former chairman of the town council of Njarðvík. Áki's idea was to preserve toponyms and stories related to the area by using trolls. Among the trolls, you can count the Tyrkjavörður trolls, the Grænáskirkja, the Nástrandartrolls, the Stapat trolls, Frey and Freyja and Sýslumanninn. The trolls are made of stones from Helguvík. Not all trolls, however, are trolls because there are also elves. At the top of Grænásbrekka stands a family of elves, and they are smaller than other stone figures. The family stands on Grænás, where people believed there was an elven church, Grænáskirkja.

One of the five major high temperature areas of the Reykjanes Peninsula. It supplies all of the communities of the Reykjanes Area with hot water for house heating and other purpose. The famous Blue Lagoon comes from the discharge from the power station. Area of green patches north of the hill Svartsengisfell north of the town Grindavík. On summertime the people of Grindavík celebrate there.  

The sculpture Fuglahúsið (e. The Bird House) by the artist Sigurð Guðmundsson is located at the grass field by Fjölbrautskóla Suðurnesja (secondary school). The sculpture was created for a competition held by the school and was unveiled in 1994. It is made of bronze and consists of a birdhouse attached to a head-shaped structure, with a pencil running through the centre. Visitors are welcome to walk up three steps to take a closer look inside the birdhouse, where they can see featherless chicks. The chicks represent the students at the school and their journey through education, while the pencil symbolises their future.

Jón Thorkellius, born in Innri-Njarðvík in 1697, was a renowned scholar who fought for educational reforms in Iceland. He passed away in Copenhagen in 1759. Jón bequeathed all his possessions to poor schoolchildren in Kjalarnesþing and left behind a sizable fund for the establishment of the Álftanesi children's school. The fund also supported the first school in Reykjavík, and grants for school maintenance were given in many places.  

A eroded subglacial volcano. A section of a small hyaloclastite hill is exposed in the costal cliffs. A dyke named Festi(ladder), evidently the feeder for Festarfjall, passes up through the basement and the Festarfjall sequence, branching towards the base of the lavas. The story say that Festi is a neckless of a woman-troll.  Location: Near highway 427 

In 2013 an old run down water tank was turned into a piece of art by the art movement Toyisim, 28 people helped with the transformation including 3 local residents. The water tank was unveilied during a local town festival in 2013 called Ljósanótt (The Night of Lights) and is the largest mural in Iceland.  

Shelters made of rock, ancient paths and stacked walls. They have been discoverd near Eldvörp, a row of scoria and spatter cones formed in the Reykjanes Fires 1210-1240 AD. Location: Close to Eldvörp, walk from road 425.

A protective wall that lay from Kirkjuból to Útskálar.  The village of Garður at the north tip of the peninsula was named after the wall.  The wall or garður (cognate with English garth), which probably dated from the early days after the settlement, served to keep livestock away from the crops. The wall was broad and tall, built of turf and large rocks. Remnants of it are visible by the old road between Garður and Sandgerði. While today the only reminder of agriculture in the area is fields of grass, several hundred years after the settlement farmers were still cultivating such crops as wheat, oats and barley.   Location: From Útskálakirkja in Garður to Kirkjubólsvelli. By road 45, towards Garðskagalighthouse.

Located at the intersection of Heiðarbraut and Garðbraut stands the sculpture Fjórir vindar (e. Four Winds), created by Helgi Valdimarsson as a gift to the municipality in 2012. The sculpture is a compass-like structure consisting of four female heads, each facing one of the cardinal directions. The tallest head looks towards the north, followed by south, east and west.  Helgi Valdimarsson, who lives and works in the town, has contributed several other works of art that can be seen in various parts of the town. These include the The Sailor‘s Wife, who stands outside the Folk Museum in Garðskagi, and Mangi from Mel, who stands at Sjólyst.

Giganta in the mountain moved to Reykjanesbær during the family and cultural festival the Night of Lights in 2008 and is now located in Black Cave at the marina in Gróf. There Giganta has been settling in her nice cave with its superb view over the bay of Keflavík and Faxaflói. Giganta is originally the creation of author Herdís Egilsdóttir who has written 16 stories about the little girl Sigga and her friend Giganta in the mountain. The last one describes her migration to Reykjanesbær. The Giganta is in full size and sits sleeping in a rocking chair in the kitchen. Open every day from 10:00 -17:00. Free Admission Contact: Tel.: 420-3245Email: duushus@reykjanesbaer.isWebsite: www.skessan.is

Mt Fagradalsfjall, the westernmost part of the mountain ridge of the Reykjanes Peninsula, is really a small plateau. Some hyalocaslite ridges protrude, especially in the western part. Its highest elevation is 385 m. above sea level. As of March 2021 an eruption begun in a valley (Geldingadalur) behind Fagradalsfjall.  Frank M. Andrews, the commander in chief of the American forces in the North-Atlantic area during World War II, with several other high ranking officers, was killed there in a crash. They were arriving from USA and preparing for landing on Keflavík Airport. Only one man survived the crash. He had to wait more than 24 hours for rescue. There can still been found items from the plane. Location: In the center of Reykjanes Peninsula, north-east of Grindavík. 

A sheep shelter, round in shape and constructed skilfully from lava rocks. Situated 2-3 km from the former parsonage Kalfatjorn in a direct line from there to Mt Dyngja.  It is about two metres high, 8 m in diameter, and 35 m in circumferance.  The ground inside it is flat and covered with grass.No sources reveal its age, but it is considered to be a few centuries old.  According to the legend, a man named Gudmundur built it for the reverend at Kalfatjorn.  He worked elaborately at the construction, collected stones from the surrounding area to have a large selection to chose from to fit them together as perfectly as possible.  He planned to close it with a cone shaped roof of stones, but the reverend envisioned it higher and more prominent than his church´s steeple and stopped the construction work.  The stone mason left it exactly as we see it today.  It was declared inviolate in 1951.

On the tip of the Reykjanes peninsula, below Valahnjúk, you can find the sculpture Geirfuglinn (The Great Auk) created by the American artist Todd McGrain. The sculpture pays tribute to the extinct bird species, Great Auk, and is a part of McGrain's Lost Bird Project.  The great auk was a flightless bird that lived across the North Atlantic Ocean and was a good swimmer. The species became extinct in the mid-18th century due to overhunting.  The sculpture shows a great auk made out of bronze facing out to the sea, looking in the direction of the island of Eldey, where the last documented pair of great auks were killed. The work is intended to draw attention to environmental issues and is a memorial to an extinct species. At Valahnjúka, there is a parking area and it's possible to take a walk around the area and go up close to the sculpture. There are also many other sights to see in the surrounding area. For further information about the area, see the list below.

Standing outside the Suðurnes Hospital is Askur Yggdrasils, a sculpture made by Erlingur Jónsson. Askur Yggdrasil serves as a symbol of the Tree of Life, and is from Norse Mythology. The tree is adorned with a pair of thrushes patiently waiting for the five eggs nestled in the tree's nests to hatch. This artwork holds great significance for the hospital as it symbolizes the cycle of life where all individuals are equal and life begins and ends. The sculpture was a gift from the Industrial Association of Suðurnes to the hospital on the organisation's 50th anniversary in 2004. This work of art was given in memory of all tradesmen who have passed away and as a reminder of the important role tradesmen play in society. The artist Erlingur Jónsson was born in Móakoti on Vatnleysuströnd in 1920, and he passed away in Reykjanesbær in 2022. Erlingur was an artist who created numerous sculptures found in Reykjanesbær and other places. Erlingur was a crafts teacher in Keflavík for a long time, and later he went to Norway to continue his arts education and later worked as an art teacher. If you're looking for additional details about Yggdrasil, you can find them at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yggdrasil.

Keflavik Church was built in 1914 and designed by Rögnvaldur Ólafsson.  Opening hours:  Mondays - Thursdays: 10:00 - 12:00 & 13:00 - 15:00 Fridays: 10:00 - 12:00 Website: www.keflavikurkirkja.is  Phone: +354 420 4300  

Standing on the north side of the terminal building is Magnús Tómasson's artwork Þotuhreiðrið, also known as Jet Nest. This artwork won an airport competition and was installed in 1990.  The artwork depicts a jet that appears to be hatching from a giant egg, just like a baby bird. The egg is placed on a nest made of Icelandic rock, which rises out of the pond surrounding the nest. This impressive artwork stands at a height of about 9 meters. The egg, made of stainless steel, measures 5.6 meters in height and 4.2 meters in width, weighing a sixth of a ton.  According to the artist, the idea for Jet Nest originated from a project he worked on many years ago about the history of birds. The concept for the jet nest was one of the ideas born from that project and was later developed into the stunning artwork we see today.

Kirkjubol was a farm at Gardskagi, often occupied by rich farmers and noblemen. In 1433, a group of men, escorting Bishop Jon Gerreksson of Skalholt under the command of Magnus Kaemaster, who had asked for the hand of Margret, the daughter of Governor Vigfus Holm, but suffered rejection, visited Kirkjubol. Magnus was furious and decided to set the farm afire and burn Margret alive. She was, however, the only person to escape from the fire and get away on horseback. She vowed to marry the man who would carry out her revenge. It was done by Thorvaldur Loftsson from the farm Modruvellir in the North. In 1550, the last catholic bishop of the northern see was executed. Kristian, the envoy of the Danish Governor, was responsible for that decision. In the early part of 1551 he travelled with a large group of men to the Reykjanes Peninsula on the King´s business and spent the night at Kirkjubol. During the night a group of men from the North attacked the farm, and with the permission of the farmer they breached the roof to get in, where they killed Kristian and most of his men. Their bodies were buried north of the home fields. Immediately afterwards the dead started haunting the living and the Northlanders exhumed the bodies, severed the heads from them and put them at their buttocks to prevent any further wanderings of their souls. News of the slayings and the demeaning burying methods reached the King´s court and Danish soldiers were sent to the farm to apprehend the farmer, who was then beheaded at Farm Straumur. Copy right: www.nat.is  Used by permission.

Cliffs known as Gallows Cliffs or Hanging Rocks. The cliffs were used to execute thieves captured in Þorbjarnarfell according to an old folk story.   Location: From road 43 there is a short walk. 

Simulations of the planets of the solar system have been placed at relatively correct distances from the sun. Starting from the sun, which is not possible to reach, as it is located inside the closed area of Reykjanes power plant. Other planets are accessible and can be observed when driving the road between Reykjanes power plant and Hafnir. 

Helguvik is a small cove close to the freestanding rock Stakkur off Cliff Holmsberg, just north of Keflavik in the town Reykjanesbær.  Nowadays this cove is a flourishing trade centre with an harbour, capelin meal factory, a processing factory for capelin, a lively cement trade and an asphalt factory.  More industries are showing interest in settling in its vicinity. Copy right: www.nat.is  Used by permission

There are many interesting things to explore in the immediate proximity. In the field, you can find other sculptures as well as relics from the Local history museum. The coastal path starts at the ocean, offering stunning views and outdoor artwork. Additionally, Duushús, which is home to Reykjanesbær's Art Museum and Reykjanesbær's Local history Museum, is located nearby.   The artist Ásmundur Sveinsson (1893-1982) was a pioneer in Icelandic sculpture. He is known for simple figurative sculptures as well as abstract works. His sculptures can be found throughout the country, particularly in Reykjavík, where he donated his works and home, which now functions as a museum.

The Church in Ytri-Njarðvík was opened on April 19th, 1979. The church was designed by two architects, Ormar Þór Guðmundsson and Örnólfur Hall. The church is 400 square meters and has a 108 square meter basement. It has seating for 230 people in the main area but it can be extended to 330 if needed. http://www.njardvikurkirkja.is/  Phone: +354 421 5013

Vonin. Monument dedicated to men from Grindavík who have drowned.   In January 1952, a tragic sea accident occurred where the ship Grindvíkingur GK 39 sank with a crew of five during a storm at Hópsnes. Following this incident, Kvennnfélag Grindavíkur (women's association of Grindavík) established the Memorial Fund for drowned men from Grindavík. On the 25th anniversary of the fund, a sculpture by Ragnar Kjartansson was chosen as a monument and it was revealed on Sailors' Day in 1980.    The monument is located in the field at Mánagata and depicts a family of fishermen looking out to sea, waiting for the father's safe return to the port. The monument has an inscription that reads, "In patience and trust shall be your strength; Jes. 30.15.“

At the entrance of the town Sandgerði is a sculpture named Álög (Spell) made by Steinunn Þórarinsdóttir. The sculpture features a person standing in front of three vertical plates that create waves in the air, depicting the strength of the sea against humans. The sea in the sculpture is made of stainless steel plates, symbolising its eternal nature. In contrast, the man is made of pot steel, which rusts and represents the impermanence of human life. The sculpture was unveiled on Sailor's Day in 1986 and serves as a memorial to the sailors from Sandgerði. It is an impressive work of art, and at night, it is beautifully illuminated, making a profound impression on the surroundings.  Visitors with a car can park in a small area next to the sculpture and walk up to it. For additional details about the artist, please visit Steinunn's website: www.steinunnth.com

Standing at Austurgarð on the pier in Sandgerði is the artwork Hvirfill, created by Jón Þórisson. The installation commemorates 100 years of powered fishing vessels in Sandgerði. A competition was held to choose a sculpture that would honour the town's fishing industry. Hvirfill was the winning submission and was unveiled in 2007. The sculpture is made of stainless steel and is movable in the wind.  

On Garðskagi you can find two lighthouses, the older one and also the smaller of the two was once regarded as one of the best lighthouses in Iceland because it stood low and therefore mist was not a problem. Although there was risk of the lighthouse being damaged because of surf and it was sometimes not visible because of seastorm. A new lighthouse was built on Garðskagi in 1944. At 28 metres it is the highest lighthouse in Iceland and was in second place in a survey which Rögnvaldur Guðmundsson supervised concerning the favorite lighthouses of the Icelandic people. Engineer Axel Sveinsson designed the lighthouse but the lighthouse is a radar transponder and used for weather surveilance. The operation of thelighthouse is under the supervision of the Icelandic Maritime Administration.

An area at the south side of Faxaflói, from inside of Hvassahraun to Vogastapi, often called "Ströndin" (the coast) by locals. In all Vatnsleysuströnd is 15km long. Up from it lies Strandarheiði which is all covered in lava rocks, Þráinskjaldarhrauni, which ran to the ocean around 9000 years ago..The inhabited area on Vatnsleysuströnd is only on a thin strip of land by the beach and is mostly in boroughs that formed by the best land.

During the 19th century ships started frequenting this harbour again.  The merchants of Keflavik often unloaded salt, timber and heavy merchandize there and loaded fish from the farmers of Midnes and Hafnir.  In the beginning of the 20th century the arrivals of ships diminished, because of the opening of the Sandgerdi harbour and a new trading post there. Copy right: www.nat.is  Used by permission.

Patterson Airport was built in 1942 by the usa navy. The airport was mainly used to maintain the aircrafts. Next to the airport can be found Subfossils shells, since 20.000-22.000 years ago. They lived shorly before the Late Glacial Maximum at about 18.000 years age. The sea level at that time was about 5-10 m. The airport was closed 1945.   Location: Road 44 at fence on Patterson. Walk north from old ammunition supplier  

In front of Víkingheimar museum is a statue of the settler Hrafna-Flóki made by Mark J. Ebbert. The statue is carved in marble and was a gift from the Defense Forces to the Icelandic nation on the 50th anniversary of the Republic. The statue was unveiled in 1994 on a defence force tree planting day. Initially, the statue was in front of the old terminal at Keflavík airport until it was moved to Víkingaheim in 2010. The artist, Ebbert, lived in Iceland for a while with his wife, who worked as a naval officer for the defence force.  Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson appears in Landnámabók, The Book of Settlements. He was a Norwegian Viking who sailed west in search of a new land. He arrived in Iceland before the country was settled, together with a few men and his three ravens. They stopped for a while but eventually returned to Norway.  You can read more about Hrafna-Flóki here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hrafna-Flóki_Vilgerðarson

Stafnes was a mansion in the past.  There were many fishing outfits on the property and many people lived there during the fishing seasons.  Royal fishing outfits started operating there around the middle of the 16th century and were abolished in 1769.  The inhabitants of the King´s properties in the Southwest were obliged to work on the King´s boats against low pay.  During the 17th and 18th centuries, Stafnes was the most populous fishing outfit on the Reykjanes Peninsula.  The former trading post Basendar is a short distance to the south.  Still further south is the old harbour Thorshofn, which was not much used, because of the proximity of Basendar.  Many vessels have run aground on the Stafnes Skerries.  In 1928 the trawler President Jon ran aground there, 15 of the crew drowned, but 10 were rescued.  This and other similar accidents led to the establishment of The Life Saving Association of Iceland.  Considerable seal hunting was practiced at Stafnes in earlier times. Stafnesviti stands in between the towns Sandgerði and Hafnir at Stafnes and was built in 1925. It stands 8 m. tall built of concrete sement and stands on a concrete stall. It is painted yellow. Copy right: www.nat.is  Used by permission.

The sculpture Holskefla (e. Breaker), created by Sigurjón Ólafsson, is situated outside of Hljómahöllinn. This artwork was built in 1971 and consists of four arched shapes that are linked to the base through a fifth shape. The shapes are made of copper plates that have been welded together. The artwork's shapes and title suggest that waves are about to break. The sculpture stands at a height of 3 meters, mounted on a high pillar. In this artwork, the artist has experimented with shapes and the law of gravity, as the entire weight of the sculpture is placed on one side of the pillar. This is one of the few works in which Sigurjón has used geometric shapes.  For more information on the artist: http://lso.is/index_e.htm

The spit on which you are standing is named Hópsnes on the west side and Þórkötlustaðanes on the east side. The spit is 2 km long and 1 km wide and was formed 2,800 years ago when lava flowed into the sea. Hópsnes/Þórkötlustaðanes was formed during an eruption from a row of craters named Sundhnúkur located just north of the village of Grindavík. Port conditions in Grindavík are excellent due to this lava flow and the lagoon (Hópið) that formed beside the spit when the sea began to erode the lava and move loose materials. If the spit were not there, the village of Grindavík would probably never have been built. The fact is that it is one of six communities on the Reykjanes peninsula that owes its existence to an eruptive fissure in a volcanic system that is still active. Eruptions could occur in this area at any time. From its earliest days, Grindavík has been one of the main fishing centres in Iceland. Sundhnúkur, from where the lava that formed the spit flowed, has navigation signals showing the route through the gap into the harbour. Travelling around the spit, one can see a number of shipwrecks that have run aground here and in the neighbourhood in the course of the 20th century. There are information signs by some of the wrecks. Both the village and fishing-vessel operations flourished in the early 20th century. Numerous rowing boats and later motor boats were operated from Þórkötlustaðanes. There are a good number of remains of the settlement that is no more, such as entrance cairns, fish-storage huts, ice storages, fish-processing houses, liver-processing and salt huts. The fishing operation moved to the location that is now Grindavík harbour in 1939, when a group of energetic Grindavík residents took it upon themselves to dig a channel through the reef that had hitherto prevented boats from entering the Hópið lagoon. The Hópsnes lighthouse was built in 1928. Today the area is a popular recreational area with a hiking and biking trail. 

Farms Smaller and Big Vatnsleysa were formerly manors and big fishing outfits in the County of the Vatnsleysa County.  They stood on the western shores of the Vatnsleysa Cove, between spit Keilisnes to the west and spit Hraunsnes to the east.  Farm Smaller Vatnsleysa is among the biggest pig farm of the country (producing the Ali-products).  Among the benefits of those two farms were the rich lumpfish grounds, driftwood and thermal activity.  Vatnsleysa was a church site during catholic times, where the churches were dedicated to all the saints and it possessed a big part of the farm´s property.  The churches at Vatnsleysa were served from the parsonage Kalfatjorn for a long time. Copy right: www.nat.is  Used by permission

A rock with three holes, shape like bowls.  Most wanted stop for travellers that had to go to either to Grindavik or Krýsuvík. It is located were these two old roads meet.  The story says that one is for a dog, one for a man and the third for a horse. The water is holy and people could always trust that there would be water to drink.   Location: Short walk from road 427. 

The Lighthouse at Holmsberg was built in1956 and stands 9,3 m tall with a compartmenet for the light of 3,4 m tall. It has identical lighthouses in 6 other parts of Iceland, all designed by the engineer Axel Sveinsson.

Kalfatjörn is a former farm, parsonage and church site in the Vatnsleysa County.  It was a parsonage until 1907, when the parish was united with the Gardar parish of the Kjalarnes deanery.  During catholic times, the church was dedecated to St Peter.  The present church was built in 1892-93 and consecrated June 11th 1893.  It was built of wood and covered with corrugated iron on stone foundations.  It seats 150 persons.  It now belongs to the Tjorn Parish.  The altarpiece, a replica of the one in the Reykjavik Cathedral, painted by Sigurdur Guðmundsson, is equally old as the church. Copy right: www.nat.is  Used by permission

Kirkjuvogur (Church Cove) was a mansion in Hafnir, an annexed church site of the Grindavik parish, which was long served by the reverends of Utskalar. Still earlier, Kirkjuvogur was served from Hvalsnes. The catholic churches were dedicated to the Holy Mother. During the flood storm of 1799 the church was severely damaged. Today the church belongs to municpality of Reykjanesbær. It is the the only black wooden church in the Reykjanes peninsula and is a great stop on the way to The Bridge Between Continents.

Stori Holmur was a mansion in the Leira County.  Probably Steinunn the Old, an aunt of Ingolfur Arnarson, the first Norwegian settler, lived there.  On the property is one of the country´s best golf courses, operated by the Sudurnes Golf ClubCopy right: www.nat.is  Used by permission.

Einar Jónsson from Brúarhraun (1818-1891) built the foundation of the church which was consegrated in 1863. The interior of the church was painted and decorated by Áki Gränz a master painter. The church is preserved and has a modern tower design. It is made from wood. One of the most tragic events in Icelandic sea history is connected to the church. On the 8th of March 1685, 156 fishermen drowned at sea in a storm by Reykjanes. Many of them were from North Iceland stationed in the region during the main fishing season. On the 11th March 42 were buried in the church´s graveyard and the next day another 47 bodies drifted ashore in Garður and were also buried in the same mass grave.