The Westman Islands
are a group of 15-18 islands, depending on how they are classed, and about 30 skerries sand rock pillars, located off the mainland’s south coast. The islands were formed by submarine volcanic eruptions along a 30-km long fissure lying southwest to northeast. The largest island is Heimaey, 13.4 km2.Most of the islands have steep sea cliffs, and are well vegetated. Bird hunting and egg collecting are traditional to the islanders’ culture.
A Norse timber church
A gift from the Norwegians to commemorate 1000 years since Christianity was accepted in Iceland, was consecrated on Heimaey. The only church of its type in Iceland, it has been situated at the Skans area where a stone wall, built after theTurkish invasion in 1627 occurred, has been rebuilt. Population 4,416.
Hunting and fishing are the traditional mainstays of the island economy. Rich fishing grounds surround the islands.
For many years Heimaey was one of Iceland´s largest fishing stations. During the main season, people, from all places and walks of life, flocked here to work long hours and earn money. The population of the town trebled and the number of boats multiplied. Today, ships are larger and more technologically advanced, production has moved from landbased freezing plants to factory ships and consequently the hustle and bustle of the main season is much a thing of the past.
Surtsey
On the morning of 14th November, 1963, crew aboard Ísleifur II saw a column of black dust rising from the sea, south-west of Heimaey. An eruption had begun on the seabed which was to last almost four years. By the second day of the eruption the island, Surtsey, was already 10 metres high. When the eruption ended, on 5th June, 1967, the island covered 2,8 square km and reached a height of 170m.
Surtsey is protected by law and Icelandic scientists continue to document the colonization of the island by plant and bird life.
The Eruption on Heimaey, 1973
The eruption on Heimay began on 23rd January, 1973, just before two o´clock in the morning. A fissure opened on the eastern side of the island, only 300-400 metres from Kirkjubæir, the most easterly houses in the town. The inhabitants of Heimaey were woken by the police and firebrigade as they drove around, raising the alarm with their sirens. People streamed down to the docks. Fortunately the weather had been stormy the day before and most of the island´s fleet of 60-70 fishing boats had stayed in harbour. The boats ferried the town´s people to safety in Þórlákshöfn. In March, moltern lava threatened to close the harbour approaches. In a desperate attempt to stop the flow, seawater was pumped on to the lava.
This method proved very effective. Today the harbour is considered to be even better than before. The eruption ended on 3rd July, 1973. In six months a new volcano, 225m high, had appeared on the island and a new lava field lay to the east and covered 3.3 square km. Around 360 houses
had been buried and many others badly damaged.
Before the eruption
5300 people lived on Heimaey, 2000 of these moved back
immediately after the eruption ended.
Slowly but surely more families returned and began to rebuild
their community.
The Turkish Invasion
Probably the most tragic incident to take place on the island was the Algerian pirate raid in July of 1627. The pirates landed on Heimaey and proceeded to pillage and plunder, burning farms, houses and the church, and killing or kidnapping 242 of the island’s 500 inhabitants.Those who were kidnapped were transported to the slave market in Algeria and most of them were never able to return to Iceland. Some died along the way; others could not adjust to the conditions of slavery, and a few eventually started new lives in the world of their captives. The inhabitants who escaped the pirates during the attack had hidden in caves and at cliffs along the ocean. Many place names on the island are reminiscent of this terrifying attack, such as Pirates’ Bay and Hundred
Man Cave. It is said that 100 people
hid here, though they
were eventually
discovered by the pirates
because of a dog that had been waiting outside the cave.
One woman,
Guðríður Símonardóttir, sometimes called Turkish Gudda from Stakkagerði
in Vestmannaeyjar is
probably the most
famous of the captives.
She was one of the few
who was released from c
aptivity and returned to
Iceland,
though she never
returned to Vestmannaeyjar.She married the poet and author of the Icelandic psalms, Hallgrímur Pétursson who served as a priest in Suðurnes and Hvalfjörður.
Here are more photo's taken in Vestmannaeyjar.
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| A photo of Vestmannaeyjar town |
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| Here is where people come to party every year in a festival called Þjóðhátíð in this place called the Dalurinn |
