Flateyri

Flateyri sits on a spit in Onundarfjordur below a steep mountainside, and in October 1995 an avalanche came off that slope into the village at night and killed twenty people. The response was a pair of enormous earth barriers, built in an A shape above the houses to split and divert any future slide, and they now define the place visually - the village is read against them from every angle. Below, the old bookshop has traded since 1914 and is among the oldest shops of any kind in Iceland still in its original premises, with the family's living quarters preserved upstairs.

History

Flateyri has been a trading post since 1792 and was for a time a major whaling centre in the 19th century. On 26 October 1995 an avalanche hit the village, destroying 29 homes and burying 45 people, 20 of whom died, after which a deflecting dam was built above it; on 14 January 2020 two large avalanches struck the dam, one sliding into the sea and raising a wave that sank six of the seven boats in the harbour (Wikipedia, Flateyri).

What to look for

• The 1995 avalanche - twenty people killed in the village at night.
• Barriers above the houses - built in an A shape to split a slide.
• A bookshop since 1914 - among the oldest original shop premises in the country.
• Living quarters upstairs - preserved above the shop.

When to go

June to September; the Westfjords roads are hard in winter. Half a day.

Before you go

The avalanche is recent history with survivors and relatives living here, so it is treated locally as loss rather than as an attraction. Shops and services keep short seasonal hours. The village is small and quiet.

Nearby

Sudureyri is over the pass; Isafjordur is east.

Key facts