Flatey, Breiðafjörður

Flatey is the second largest island in Breiðafjörður, located in northwestern Iceland. It consists of the main island and forty other smaller islands. It is believed that it was created during Ice age from a great glacier. Flatey is two kilometers long and one kilometer wide. The island is mostly flat (hence its name, meaning "flat island" in Icelandic), with scarcely any hills.

The island has a seasonal habitation; most houses there are occupied only during summer. In winter, the island's total population is five people. In spite of this, Flatey was one of the greatest cultural centres of Iceland, with a no-longer existing monastery founded in 1172 standing on the highest point of the island. In the middle of the 19th century, it was a cultural and artistic reference in Iceland, and was massively inhabited. It also has a church, built in 1926. The church's interior is painted with scenes of the island life, made by a Catalan painter, Baltasar Samper, in the 1960s in return for free accommodation when he was visiting the island. Now, the church bears the odd title of oldest and smallest library in Iceland, established in 1864. This library was once home to the "Flatey Book", the largest of medieval Icelandic manuscripts.

The island has a single road that leads from the ferry dock to the so-called "old village", which consists of some restored painted houses and a harbour, from where the island sheep are taken to the mainland for slaughter. Besides sheep, most of Flatey's natural life consists of birds, especially puffins.

External links

* [http://www.vestfirdir.is/index.php?page=flatey Flatey information] Languageicon|Is|Icelandic
* [http://www.hotelflatey.is/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=2 History page at the Hotel Flatey website]