Kirkjubaejarklaustur (Kirkjubæjarklaustur) Village
Kirkjubaejarklaustur (Kirkjubæjarklaustur) Village
The rather long name of this village is pronounced ‘kirk-u-buyer-cloister’ or just ’cloister’ for short! It means the ‘church farm cloister’ and in days gone by it was believed that only Christian people could live here (Icelanders were mostly pagans before the year 1000).
During the disastrous Laki eruption of 1783, Reverent Jon Steingrimsson preached his famous fire sermon, halting the advancing lava flow before it engulfed the church and nearby farm. Laki's lava is the beautiful moss-clad Eldhraun, west of the village.
Skaftarstofa is a museum dedicated to the eruption, which has artefacts from excavations in the area, some dating back to Catholic times when there was a convent here (1168-1554).
Skaftarstofa also serves as a Visitor Centre for the Vatnajokull National Park and in the basement of the house is a farmers market selling local foods and other items.
Today, Kirkjubaejarklaustur serves the surrounding farming communities and it has a small fish farming company, Klausturbleikja, raising Arctic char in a nearby freshwater river. This delicious fish is served in local restaurants. In the village, you'll also find cafés, supermarket, a handicraft centre, swimming pool and service station.
The village lies at the foot of a former sea cliff and there is an easy trail through a pretty forested area up to Lake Systravatn (the Sisters Lake).
Usually, there is a nice waterfall too, Systrafoss, cascading down the hill but sometimes the farmers ‘turn it off’ when they need the water. Another nice walk is to Systrastapi cliff, reached by following the path by the river at the west end of the village. From the rocky bluff overlooking the Skafta river, you can see where the Laki lava flows halted.