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and Development Agency - MUSEUMS Museums in Reykjanes Reykjanesbęr  The Reykjanes Regional Folk Museum is housed at a number of locations around the region, the main one of which is at Vatnsnesvegur 8, Keflavķk, a former dwelling house donated for the purpose. Now restored, it contains a wide variety of exhibits recalling the town's rich history as one of Iceland's main commercial ports. A folk museum housed in a stone turf-roofed farm cottage at Inner Njaršvķk offers a vivid demonstration of how life was lived in the region at the turn of the 20th century, while a maritime museum due to open this summer at the former Duus warehouse, Duusgata 2-8, Keflavķk, will house no less than 60 models of fishing craft and other vessels dating from 1860 to the present day. Each carries its own history, both of the boats themselves and the men who sailed in them. The Reykjanes Regional Museum at Vatnsnes is open every Sunday from 13:30-17:00, or by arrangement. For further information, please call (+354) 421 6700.  Reykjanes Maritime Museum  Life on the nautical edge A rich chapter in Iceland's maritime tradition seen through the model collection of Captain Grķmur Karlsson. For as long as he can remember, the sea has captured the heart of Grķmur Karlsson. A fisherman for many years, several of them spent as a skipper, he knows at first hand what life is like for those who spend weeks on end at sea, far from land, families and loved ones. For any sailor, life on board is a unique experience, be it good or bad. For better or worse, the hulls, decks and cabins of the vessels on which they sail are their second home, and as in any other close community life brings with it its daily round of joys and sorrows, ups and downs, problems to be solved and thoughts to be shared. Such a confined atmosphere gives birth to a lively collection of tales and stories to be shared among shipmates and between ships, the truth of which varies and some of which never reach dry land. Almost since the time the country was first settled, Icelanders have put to sea in search of fish. For centuries, they faced the might of the North Atlantic in open six- and eight-oared boats, a tradition which changed only with the coming of steam, and later diesel-powered vessels in the years immediately following the First World War. Today, fishing is one of the pillars on which Icelandic society is built, and in creating his collection, Grķmur Karlsson has preserved a vital chapter in his country's rich maritime heritage, which might otherwise have been lost forever. The exhibition is housed in the lower floor of the Duus complex, a cluster of historic buildings centred around an 18th century warehouse overlooking what is now the Keflavķk marina. The models on show depict 58 vessels, most of them built in Iceland or brought to the country during the years between the end of the Second World War and 1960. The exhibition will open on May 1, 2002, and will be open daily from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. until September 30, and by arrangement. For further information, call (+354) 421 6700 Stekkjarkot  Built on the site of a farmhouse dating from the latter half of the 19th century, this traditional Icelandic cottage built of rough stone and turf is home to a rich collection of domestic implements and artefacts, vividly demonstrating life as it was lived in the region in the early years of the 20th century. Opening hours are by arrangement. For further details, please contact the Tourism Consultant, at (+354) 421 6700. The Reykjanesbęr Museum of Modern Art is, like the museum, housed at a number of locations around the region. Particular attention is drawn to the series of works exhibited at the Reykjanesbęr Council offices, Tjarnargata 12, Keflavķk, which is opened on weekdays from 08:30-15:30. The streets and squares of the town are also home to several sculptures and statues, including a Fisherman's Memorial, by Įsmundur Sveinsson, one of Iceland's best-known sculptors, situated at Hafnargata close to the DUUS houses. Elsewhere, a statue of Stjįni Blįi, a legendary local character enshrined in bronze by Erlingur Jónsson, keeps a watchful presence outside the Post Office on Hafnargata, while Siguršur Gušmundsson's Fuglahśsiš (The Bird Cage) can be found at the local high school on Sunnubraut. Hafnir Aquarium. Located at Kirkjuvogur 13, in the picturesque village of Hafnir, this privately run aquarium is home to every common species of fish found in Icelandic waters. Other exhibits include crab, shellfish, molluscs and other marine species, while an impressive reconstruction of a bird cliff shows examples of the rich variety of bird life who make their home on the spectacular cliff formations which form much of the Reykjanes coastline. Hafnir Aquarium is open from 14:00-17:30 (June-August) and 12:00-16:00 (September-May). Garšur Geršahreppur Local Folk Museum. Housed near the newer one of the two local lighthouses today the older over a century old and until recently used as a centre for studying the tens of thousands of migratory birds which arrive there each spring from Greenland and North America to bred on the surrounding sands, rocks and skerries, this museum houses a variety of fascinating exhibits showing how life was lived in the past, both on land and at sea. Among the items on display is a collection of engines used to power local fishing vessels. Geršahreppur Local Musem is open from 13:00-17:00 from May 1 - August 30, and at other times by arrangement. For further information, please call the curator at (+354) 422 7135. Sandgerši The Sandgerši Nature Centre. Located at the north-western end of the Reykjanes peninsula in the village of the same name the principal function of The Sandgerši Nature Centre is to highlight the rich variety of bird and marine life which teems the surrounding area. As part of this role, the Centre works closely with BIO Ice, a deep-sea research facility housed in the same building at Garšvegur 1. The Centre houses several types of bottom-lying species displayed in tanks, aquaria and display cases, as well as several types of Icelandic birds. Groups can hire the services of a guide to take them along the shore or local ponds and marshes, where a rich variety of fish, shellfish, sea birds, and waders can be enjoyed in their natural habitat. The Nature Centre is open all weekdays from 09:00-17:00, and from 13:00-17:00 at weekends. For further information please contact: sigrun.asta.jonsdottir@reykjanesbaer.is |
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