Flateyjardalur is a deserted valley in northern Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

, on the Flateyjarskagi peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

. The valley stretches north from the Fnjóskadalur

Fnjóskadalur

Fnjóskadalur is an agricultural valley in Northeast Iceland, approx. 10 km northeast of Akureyri. Fnjóská, a popular salmon angling river and the longest spring fed river in Iceland, runs through the valley. The river originates on Sprengisandur in the Icelandic highland...

 valley all the way north to Skjálfandi

Skjálfandi

Skjálfandi, geologically more a bay than a fjord, is located in the North of Iceland. The word Skjálfandi literally translates to "trembling" which might refer to earthquakes which do occur quite frequently...

 bay. Flateyjardalur is named after the island of Flatey

Flatey in Skjálfandi

Flatey is an island in Skjálfandi bay located about 8.7 kilometers from Húsavík, in northern Iceland. Its name in Icelandic means "flat island"; its highest point is only about twenty two meters above mean sea level, hence its name. It is two and a half kilometers long and 1.7 kilometers wide. It...

, which lies just off the shore. Finnboga saga ramma

Finnboga saga ramma

Finnboga saga ramma is an Icelandic saga that tells about the life and growing up of Finnbogi hinn rammi. The story takes place in Flateyjardalur in Suður-Þingeyjarsýsla and in more places in Iceland, as well as in Norway. It is supposed to happen in the 10th century-External links:**...

, one of the Icelandic sagas, takes place in the valley. The last inhabitants left the valley in 1953. The same year a road was built from Fnjóskadalur to Flateyjardalur, connecting the valley to other parts of the region. There are three concrete houses in the valley, built in the late 1920s, which today are only inhabited seasonally, during summer. By the old farm Brettingsstaðir is a cemetery surrounding the foundation of the old church of Brettingsstaðir, which was dismantled and moved to Flatey after the valley had become deserted. Many tourists visit Flateyjardalur in the summer.

External links

• http://www.nat.is/travelguideeng/plofin_flateyjardalur.htm
• - pictures from Flateyjardalur www.islandsmyndir.is