Iceland 2011

Thursday9June

Waking up at Varmahlíð campsite, which we share with two Swiss people!

This morning, visit to the turf church Viðimyrarkirkja

The interior of Vidimyrarkirkja

The altar triptych dating from 1616

"Sigurlaugar Sæmundsdóttir frá lambanesi og kristjáns jónssonar"

an old bible on display

The faded paintings of the pulpit

The church of Vidimyrarkirkja dates from 1835 and is one of the last churches in Iceland whose roof and walls are made of turf

detail of the turf walls
"Peat is the product of the fossilization of plant debris (called 'turfigenous', such as various species of sphagnum for example) by microorganisms (bacteria, arthropods, fungi, microfauna) in humid and oxygen-poor environments - known as peat bogs - over a time interval ranging from 1,000 to 7,000 years.

If, due to its burial, peat is subjected to particular conditions of pressure and temperature, it transforms, after a period of about a million years, into coal. Peat can thus be considered an intermediate stage in the formation of coal." © Wikipedia

In the small cemetery surrounding the church, generations of stories gaze upon us...

The two bells at the entrance dating from 1630

About ten kilometers away, another turf building opens its doors. It is the old Glaumbær farm built in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Detail of the turf walls

The interior of the houses

Gísli Konráðsson, historian.

The church right next to the farm

In Sauðárkrókur, a town bordering the Skagafjörður fjord, we gently photograph gulls, Arctic terns, and some northern fulmars...  

Sauðárkrókur

We move away from the coast to reach the town of Hólar. Historically, Hólar was an important religious center, notably under the direction of Saint Jón Ögmundsson, bishop of the town until his death in 1121.

This church is the first in Iceland to have been built of stone (finished in 1763).

Gvendarbrunnur, a sacred spring presumably linked to another bishop, Guðmundur Arason hinn góði?

The interior of the church where various very ancient objects are displayed

The altarpiece behind the altar dates from the 15th century and is believed to come from England, making it one of the rare pieces from the British Catholic period.

Soapstone (steatite, also called potstone) baptismal fonts dating from 1674 and probably from Greenland, as this stone does not exist in Iceland.

Soapstone (steatite, also called potstone) baptismal fonts dating from 1674 and probably from Greenland, as this stone does not exist in Iceland.

The interior of the turf houses

The map of Hólar and the coat of arms of the university founded in 1106, which still teaches tourism, horse training, and aquaculture today!

And off we go! We hit the road again to reach the large city of Akureyri and along the way, we fleetingly cross paths with Drangey island, born 700,000 years ago from a volcano in the middle of Skagafjörður fjord...

Restaurants are not common in the Icelandic countryside, and sometimes a gas station with its hot dogs is a great help for 3 hungry tourists...