Vík í Mýrdal
| Vík í Mýrdal | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 63 ° 25 ′ N , 19 ° 1 ′ W | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Iceland | ||
| Southurland | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | IS-8 | ||
| local community | Mýrdalur | ||
| Residents | 454 (January 1, 2019) | ||
 View from above on Vík
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Vík í Mýrdal ([ ˈviːkʰ i ˈmirtal ], Eng . "Bay on the swampy valley") is located in the Icelandic municipality of Mýrdalur and is the southernmost place on the mainland of Iceland .
On January 1, 2019, the place had 454 inhabitants. Vík is an important service and supply center for the residents around Mýrdalsjökull .
geography
Vík í Mýrdal is located south of Lake Heiðarvatn on the coast. To the north-west of the village is Mount Reynisfjall , a good observation spot for ornithologists . There you can find numerous puffins and fulmars in June and July . The volcanic peninsula Dyrhólaey lies south of the Dyrhólaós and is about 6 km west of the place. The river Víkurá flows through Vík into the Atlantic. Further east is the Uxafótarlækur river .
history
In August 1964 and in the summer of 1965, the French space agency CNES launched two French sounding rockets of the Dragon 1 type from a mobile launch pad near Vík . The missiles reached a height between 420 km and 451 km.
Culture and sights
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- The place has a famous beach that is formed by black lava . The sea in front of it is often wild and turbulent. In 1991 the beach was voted one of the ten most beautiful beaches in the world by "Islands Magazine".
- In front of the coast there are three black rock needles ( dykes ), the Reynisdrangar : "Skessudrangur", "Landdrangur" and "Langsamur". A legend reports that trolls tried to bring a ship ashore and were petrified in the process.
- On the beach is the northern statue "The Traveler", created by the Icelandic sculptor Steinunn Thorarinsdottir . An identical second copy - the southern statue - is on the beach in the British city of Hull . Both figures thus form an imaginary bridge between the two island states.
- The Iceland Fisheries memorial stone , which commemorates German deep-sea fishermen and Icelandic helpers who perished off Iceland, is also located on the beach.
- 4 km east of Vík í Mýrdal, the 15 km long slope 214 branches off from the ring road in a northerly direction to Þakgil near Mýrdalsjökull. The path leads through a volcanic landscape that is famous for its beauty.
Transport and infrastructure
Vík í Mýrdal is one of the few coastal towns in Iceland that does not have a port . The distance to the Icelandic capital Reykjavík is 187 kilometers by road. The place is on Iceland's most important road, the Hringvegur .
In addition to the supply infrastructure, Vík has a youth hostel , two hotels, a campsite with a swimming pool and a wool factory with a warehouse for both clothes and souvenirs.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Université de Perpignan (French); Accessed June 29, 2011
- ^ Vik in the Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed on September 14, 2011 (English).
- ↑ Picture of the Icelandic statue
- ^ Christian Nowak: Baedeker Travel Guide Island , p. 292, ISBN 978-3829713863