Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Many a foreign tongue has been tied in knots trying to say Kirkjubæjarklaustur. It helps to
break it into bits:
Kirkju
(church),
bæjar
(farm) and
klaustur
(convent). Otherwise, do as
the locals do and call it 'Klaustur' (pronounced like 'cloister').
Klaustur is tiny, even by Icelandic standards - a few houses and farms scattered across a
brilliant-green backdrop. Still, it's the only real service town between Vík and Höfn, and
it's a major crossroads to several dramatic spots in the interior: Landmannalaugar and
Laki.
History
According to the
Landnámabók
(a comprehensive account of Norse settlement), this tran-
quil village situated between the cliffs and the river Skaftá was first settled by Irish monks
(papar)
before the Vikings arrived. Originally, it was known as Kirkjubær; the 'klaustur'
bit was added in 1186 when a convent of Benedictine nuns was founded (near the modern-
day church).
During the devastating Laki eruptions that occurred in the late 18th century, this area
suffered greatly - west of Kirkjubæjarklaustur you can see ruins of farms abandoned or
destroyed by the lava stream. The lava field, called Eldhraun, averages 12m thick. It con-
tains more than 15 cu km of lava and covers an area of 565 sq km, making it the world's
largest recorded lava flow from a single eruption.
