ICELAND / POI 49
Djúpavík
Forgotten Village with a Giant Herring Factory by the Sea
Djúpavík is a small village in the North-West of Iceland. It is located at the head of Reykjarfjörthur on the Strandir coast in the Westfjords region (Vestfirthir), in the municipality of Árneshreppur.
It is approximately 70 km away from Hólmavík (the nearest settlement of any account), 280 km from Ísafjörður and 340 km from the country's capital Reykjavík. At present it only consists of seven houses, a hotel and the ruins of a herring factory. It can be reached by car via road 643 or by plane via the nearby Gjögur Airport.
The village of Djúpavík was first settled in 1917 when Elías Stefánsson built a herring salting factory there. Guthjón Jónsson moved to Djúpavík in 1917 with his wife Krístín Guthmundsdóttirthe and three children to serve as the factory's supervisor. They were the village's first residents. That year brought many challenges to the herring industry in Iceland. There were shortages of fuel oil and salt, and the import price of coal and other supplies rose sharply. Both cod and herring catches were small. In the following year, the Armistice of 11 November 1918 led to reduced demand for exports from Iceland. The enterprise went bankrupt in 1919. Although the business was briefly taken over by others, the site was abandoned during the 1920s. Guthjón stayed on at the factory until 1921.
In 1984 Ásbjörn Thorgilsson, the grandson of a former Djúpavík resident, and his wife Eva Sigurbjörnsdóttir bought the herring factory, intending to repair it and start a fish breeding program. They chose instead to renovate the women's dormitory for use as a hotel to support increasing tourism in the area. Over the years, business increased, with significant growth after 2010. Ásbjörn and Eva have taken care to preserve the cultural heritage of the site and the environment. As of 2016, Hotel Djúpavík was the only eco-friendly tourism service in Strandir....\' During this time, they also made repairs to prevent further deterioration of the factory and other buildings.
Hotel business is confined mostly to the Summer months. The nearest major route (road 61) is located 60 km (37 mi) to the south, and the nearest airport is at Gjögur, 14 km (9 mi) to the north. Road 643 is the only connection between Djúpavík and these locations. This road is classified as a secondary road and is in snow clearance group G. Snow on group G roads is not cleared during the Winter months causing Djúpavík to be cut off from road transportation. However, in recent years the hotel has hosted snowmobile adventurers who follow snowmobile guides from Hólmavík to Djúpavík.
(Wikipedia)'
More in ICELAND
More Cities spots
