Ethnographic Museum of Eirarbakki

• Address: Hveragerdi and Selfoss, Iceland;
• Official page: husid.com;
• Phone: +354 483 1504;
• Working hours: every day from 11:00 to 18:00.

The territory of Iceland is rich in both natural and cultural attractions , which can represent a whole settlement. One of these places is an interesting city, which can be called a real ethnographic museum, called Eirarbakka .

Eirarbakki - history and description

For many hundreds of years, the harbor to Eirarbakki was the most important commercial port of southern Iceland, and the city itself represented the main shopping center of the entire southern region, which stretches from Selvogur to Mount Luumumgun. However, in 1925 the city lost this honorary title, as the fishermen had to leave the port. The thing is that at the end of the nineteenth millenium the number of rowing fishing boats increased significantly. But the country's authorities have decided to block the dam water port of the Eirarbakki and a river called Elfusau. This made the port not so profitable place, rather than earlier.

To date, Eirarbakki is a small fishing village located on the south coast of the country. The population of this place is only 570 people, except for the inhabitants of the prison that is there.

Having decided to visit Eirarbakki, many people ask themselves: where is the ethnographic museum? Thanks to its history and neat wooden buildings, the whole city is considered a landmark. The value of the town is the opportunity to personally see the life of fishermen in Iceland. The exhibits of the ethnographic museum are city buildings. They are neat wooden buildings, on the facades of which you can see the date of their erection, as well as the name of the house. If you look at the photo of the ethnographic museum, then on some of them you can see this feature of the data of the original architectural objects.

Today, Eirarbakki lives at the expense of tourists and travelers from all over the world. There is practically no other source of existence for the local population. In the 1990s, the last enterprise in the city - a fish processing plant - was closed. However, these people do not despair and continue to delight tourists with excursions to the present, full of dangers and adventures, the life of a fisherman, as well as trips to the most beautiful places on traditionally Icelandic horses.

Attractions of Eirarbakki

Having visited Eirarbakki, you will not be able to see the exhibition of the ethnographic museum in its traditional sense. Excursions include the fishing harbor and numerous city buildings:

1. In the town there is a house built in 1765, which is the title of the oldest surviving wooden apartment house in Iceland.
2. The building of the functioning church, the construction of which is dated 1890.
3. The oldest elementary school, founded in 1852, is the oldest educational institution in Iceland.
4. Also tourists have the opportunity to visit local history and marine museums.

The list of houses in the town of Eirarbakki, which are real attractions, can be tiring for a long time. It is for this reason that the place is simply considered an ethnographic open-air museum, the restoration of which is held daily. All together, neat wooden buildings look like toy.

How to get to Eirarbakki?

You can get to Eirarbakka by car from the capital of the country . To do this, take the number one highway to the town of Selfos and then turn to highway 34. After 25 km, there will be Eirarbakki.