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Reykjanes Marketing
and Development Agency - TOURISM Sandgerði  From Garður, the road turns south towards the fishing village of Sandgerði, passing on the way Hafurbjarnastaður, site of a heathen female grave dating from Viking times, and the remains of which are now preserved in the National Museum of Iceland. Golfers may wish to pause for a round on the short course at Vallarhúsvöllur, while for nourishment, Sandgerði also offers a fine restaurant. The town is also home to a branch of the Marine Research Institute of Iceland, and a fascinating Nature Centre, which includes several live exhibits. Like much of Reykjanes, the area teams with birdlife, while no one interested in Iceland's past will want to miss a visit to Hvalneskirkja, home from 1644-51 of the Rev. Hallgrímur Pétursson, one of the country¹s greatest hymn composers, whose memory is today enshrined in the landmark church in Reykjavík which bears his name.  South of Hvalsnes, the Stafnes peninsula was once an important fisheries centre, and from there a path winds its way along the shore to Ósabotn, near Hafnir. En route, it passes the ruins of Básendir, once the largest commercial centre in Reykjanes and centre of the Danish trading monopoly until its destruction by a tidal wave during a storm on the night of January 9, 1799. Miraculously, this catastrophe claimed only one life, but all that remains of this latter-day Atlantis of the north are a few scattered ruins and a rusting iron ring once used to secure the proud ships which docked there. Even less remains of neighbouring Þórshöfn, itself once an important port, although the path from there to Djúpivogur passes Kirkjuvogur, a farm whose name appears in Landnámabók, Iceland's early-medieval Book of the Settlements. 
 The Reykjanes Tourist Board Hafnargata 57 IS-230 Reykjanesbær Iceland Tel. + 354 421 6760, fax + 354 421 6199 rtb@rnb.is |
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