Seyðisfjörður, pretty village in East Iceland

Seyðisfjörður or Seydisfjoerdur is a town and municipality in Iceland's Eastfjords region, at the innermost point of the fjord of the same name.

Connected to Scotland and the Faröe, this is a typical icelandic village, with a tiny port deep into the fjord, surrounded by mountains and wild waterfalls.

Settled at the sandy bottom of the fjord, it's almost unreally pretty in the unspoiled breathtaking landscape.

Seyðisfjörður

Coordinates: 65°15′ N, 14°0′ W, just one degree below the Arctic Circle.
Population:  ~ 670 inhabitants.

 

The town was settled by fishermen from Norway in 1848, on the lowlands of the fjord, where a few farms had existed for centuries. These settlers also built some of the present day wooden buildings.

Seyðisfjörður has a library, a hospital, a post office, some retail activity, a visual arts centre, a Technical Museum and still a local heritage museum, the only two cinemas in the east of Iceland, three small hotels, a swimming pool ! Not so tiny, so.

The Blue Church (Bláa Kirkjan) is the absolute central landmark.

Legend tells that the church, from the 13th century and dedicated to St. Mary, has been moved several times; it was surely moved into Seyðisfjörður in 1921, but after so many changes and a fire no one knows what remains from the original medieval church, maybe just some of the wooden walls.

A praised concert season takes place each summer at the Blue Church.

https://www.facebook.com/blaakirkjan

As tourism is replacing the traditional fishing activity, hotels are growing in number.

 

 

This wooden house in blue is the old Pharmacy.

  The old Post Office is now a small Hotel.

19th century, Norwegian style.

Wooden house in red...the Music School.

The Norwegian-built houses are the real treasure here.

Kaffi Lara

The café in town 

- this is Kaffi Lara, at Norðurgata

 

The small harbour is still active with a few fishing ships, but presently it is also dedicated to tourism and leisure.

 

 

The Smyril Line MS Norröna keeps a daily link to Denmark and the Faroe Islands.

The Skaftfell Art Centre

Amazingly, the town also has an Arts Centre:

Skaftfell is a visual art centre to encourage the development of contemporary art. It is a meeting point for artists and locals and its activities are based on exhibitions and events, and also an international residency program.

 

The Centre is installed in a 1909 Norwegian house.

http://skaftfell.is/
http://skaftfell.is/en/

Some of Iceland´s best waterfalls are located in the vicinity of Seyðisfjörður.

 

This is Gufufoss, 19 m high

 
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The first telegraph cable connecting Iceland to Europe started in 1906 from Seyðisfjörður, built by Great Nordic Telephone Company.
For several years this was a hub for international telecommunications.

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