Kirkjubæjarklaustur
Encyclopedia
Icelandic language
Icelandic is a North Germanic language, the main language of Iceland. Its closest relative is Faroese.Icelandic is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic or Nordic branch of the Germanic languages. Historically, it was the westernmost of the Indo-European languages prior to the...
: church farm cloister) is a village in the south of 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 hringvegur (road no. 1 or Ring Road) between Vík í Mýrdal
Vík í Mýrdal
The village of Vík is the southernmost village in Iceland, located on the main ring road around the island, around by road SSE of Reykjavík....
and Höfn
Höfn
Höfn or Höfn í Hornafirði is an Icelandic fishing town in the south-eastern part of the country.As of 2011, the population of the town was 1,641. This harbour town, the second largest in the south-eastern part of Iceland, gives scenic views of Vatnajökull...
. It is part of the municipality of Skaftárhreppur
Skaftárhreppur
Skaftárhreppur is a municipality in southern Iceland.As of January 2011, it had a total population of 446 and a population density of 0.07 per square kilometre. The total area was 6946 km². The largest settlement is Kirkjubæjarklaustur.- References :...
with approximately 120 inhabitants.
Location
Its geographical location is what makes Kirkjubæjarklaustur better known than other villages its size. Kirkjubæjarklaustur is the only place between these two towns which offers services, including a fuel station, bank, post office and supermarket. Nearby tourist attractions include the LakiLaki
Łąki may refer to the following places in Poland:*Łąki, Lower Silesian Voivodeship *Łąki, West Pomeranian Voivodeship *Łąki, Lublin Voivodeship...
craters, the Eldgjá
Eldgjá
Eldgjá is a volcanic canyon in Iceland. Eldgjá and the Katla volcano are part of the same volcanic system in the south of the country. Eldgjá means "fire canyon" in Icelandic....
and Skaftafell National Park
Skaftafell National Park
Skaftafell National Park was a national park, situated between Kirkjubæjarklaustur, typically referred to as Klaustur, and Höfn in the south of Iceland. On 7 June 2008, it became a part of the larger Vatnajökull National Park....
. An attraction close to the village is Kirkjugólf (Churchfloor), a natural pavement of basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
. These are basalt columns in the earth, but only the top can be seen, and, as the name suggests, have the appearance of a paved church floor. This lava formation has similar origins to the Giant's Causeway
Giant's Causeway
The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the northeast coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills...
in Ireland. All these attractions contribute to Kirkjubaejarklaustur being a popular stopping point for tourists.
History
Even before the times of first Norse settlement in Iceland, IrishIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s are thought to have lived here. Since 1186, a well known convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
of Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
s, Kirkjubæjar Abbey
Kirkjubæjar Abbey
Kirkjubæjar Abbey , in operation from 1186 until the reformation, was a monastery in Iceland of nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. It was located at Kirkjubæjarklaustur...
, was located in Kirkjubæjarklaustur, until the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in 1550. The names of the waterfall Systrafoss (the waterfall of the sisters) and of the lake Systravatn on the highland above the village refer to this cloister. Folk tales illustrate the history with stories about good and sinful nuns. The Systrastapi (sister's rock) is where two of the convent's nuns were buried after being burned at the stake. One of the nuns was accused of selling her soul to the Devil, carrying Communion bread outside the church, and having carnal knowledge with men; the other was charged with speaking blasphemously of the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
. After the Reformation, the second sister was vindicated, and flowers are said to bloom on her grave, but not that of the first nun. Systravatn also has a legend related to the cloister. The nuns traditionally bathed in the lake, and one day two nuns saw a hand with a gold ring extending from the water. When they tried to seize the ring, they were dragged below the water and drowned.
The village became well known in Iceland during the Lakagígar
Laki (volcano)
Laki or Lakagígar is a volcanic fissure situated in the south of Iceland, not far from the canyon of Eldgjá and the small village Kirkjubæjarklaustur, in South-East Iceland....
volcano eruptions in 1783. The pastor of local the church and dean of Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla
Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla
Vestur-Skaftafellssýsla is a county in southern Iceland. It includes Kötlutangi, the southernmost point in mainland Iceland....
, Jón Steingrímsson (1728 – 1791), delivered what became known as the "Fire Sermon " (eldmessu) on July 20,1783. The legend says that this sermon stopped the lava flow, and the village was spared at the last moment. The current church, constructed in 1974, was built in memory of Reverend Jón Steingrímsson.
Today, the village is an important service center for the farms in the region as well as for the tourists and weekend visitors. Many people from Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, the country's capital, have weekend huts by a nearby lake.