Egilsstaðir
| Egilsstaðir | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Coordinates | 65 ° 16 ′ N , 14 ° 24 ′ W | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Iceland | ||
| Austurland | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | IS-7 | ||
| local community | Fljótsdalshérað | ||
| Residents | 2501 (January 1, 2019) | ||
| Post Code | 700, 701 | ||
 |
|||
Egilsstaðir [ 'εiːjɪlsˌstaːðɪr̥ ] is the largest city in the east of Iceland with 2501 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) . It is located in the municipality of Fljótsdalshérað .
geography
At Egilsstaðir lies the Lagarfljót (also called Lögurinn), an elongated lake or river of the same name, in which, according to legend, the Lagarfljótwurm , a sea monster, is said to live.
history
The place did not develop until the 1940s near the manor of the same name. At the beginning of the 20th century, he specialized in the cultivation of grain, but also larger forest areas (on an Icelandic scale) belong to him. A hotel has been in operation at the farm since 1914.
The first houses in today's small town were built in 1944. The town acquired its town charter in 1987 and since then it has grown steadily from 1380 inhabitants in 1988 to 2237 inhabitants in 2011. One lives from trade and services.
The town of Egilsstaðir ( Egilsstaðabær ) was independent until June 7, 1998 and then belonged to the Austur-Hérað municipality, which was merged with other municipalities on November 1, 2004 in the new municipality of Fljótsdalshérað .
Economy and Infrastructure
There are, among other things, some important shops that are otherwise not available in the area, such as a supermarket and a hardware store, an outdoor swimming pool, a comprehensive school, a secondary school, a technical college, the community library, the regional archive and the district court for East Iceland, a multi-purpose hall , which is mainly used as a youth club, a steamboat landing stage on the lake, hotels ranging from luxury to tourist accommodation, several sports fields, a golf course, a large information center and a caravan and tent site. There is also a health center here (isl. Heilsugæsla); the nearest hospital is in Neskaupstaður .
In the vicinity of Egilsstaðir stands the Eiðar transmission tower of the Icelandic radio .
traffic
The Egilsstaðir Airport is at the same (next to Akureyri ) an alternative landing site for Iceland's international Keflavik airport .
The Hringvegur 
, the most important road in Iceland, runs through Egilsstaðir . From here the Borgarfjarðarvegur 
, the Seyðisfjarðarvegur 
and the Skriðdals- og Breiðdalsvegur branch off 
.
Churches and parishes
The evangelical parish of Egilsstaðakirkja, to which most of the residents belong, belongs to the parish Múlaprófastsdæmi . The church building dates from 1974 and stands on the hill Gálgaklettur near the Menntaskólinn á Egilsstöðum high school.
A former pharmacy in Egilsstaðir has been converted into a Catholic community center belonging to the parish of St. Thorlák in Reyðarfjörður , 34 km away . The chapel with 50 seats was inaugurated at the end of 2009.
Daughters and sons of the city
- Bjarni Benediktsson frá Hofteigi (1922–1968), writer
- Hjálmar Jónsson (* 1980), football player
Web links
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Íslandshandbókin. Náttúra, saga og sérkenni. 2. bindi. Edited by T. Einarsson, H. Magnússon. Örn og Örlygur, Reykjavík 1989, 618
- ↑ Íslandshandbókin. Náttúra, saga og sérkenni. 2. bindi. Edited by T. Einarsson, H. Magnússon. Örn og Örlygur, Reykjavík 1989, 616
- ↑ Þjóðkirkjan ( Memento of the original from July 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Icelandic); Accessed September 1, 2011
- ↑ Kirkjukort (Icelandic); Accessed September 1, 2011
- ↑ Bonifatiusblatt , July-September 2010, p. 14.
