Ósvör Maritime Museum

The Ósvör Maritime Museum stands at the eastern end of the bay of Bolungarvík in the Westfjords, right by the sea: a reconstructed fishing station of the rowing-boat era, of a kind once found at more than 300 places on the coasts of Iceland and used for seasonal fishing when there was no work on the farms. It opened as a museum in 1988 on the ruins of old fishing huts, or by another account was built in 1990 as a set for Erlendur Sveinsson's documentary films Verstöðin Ísland and, in 1997, Íslands þúsund ár. It has a double fishermen's hut of the 19th century, huts of timber and stone and a main building of stone and turf that was once the fish-processing station, as well as a salt house, a fish-drying yard and a drying shed of the kind still used to cure hákarl, along with the six-oared rowing boat Ölver, a capstan for hauling boats ashore and the gear and tools once used for fishing and processing the catch. The museum's guides wear the leather sea clothes of the rowing-boat era. The name joins ós, a river mouth, after the farm and the Ósá river that flows into the bay, and vör, a landing place; until 2010 the museum stood on the avalanche-prone Óshlíðarvegur road.

Background

The Ósvör Maritime Museum in Bolungarvík, in Iceland's Westfjords, opened in 1988 on the ruins of old fishing huts. It recreates a 19th-century Icelandic fishing village: its huts were built of timber and stone, while the main building, once the fish-processing station, is of stone and turf. The exhibits include the rowing boat Ölver, a crew hut, a salt house and a drying hut.

Source: Wikipedia, "Ósvör Maritime Museum"

What's there

• The fishing station - a double 19th-century hut, salt house, drying shed and fish-drying yard.
• The boat Ölver - a six-oared rowing boat, with the capstan that hauled boats ashore.
• Guides in sea clothes - the leather sea clothing of the rowing-boat era.
• The landing place - the vör at the river mouth that gave Ósvör its name.

When to go

June to August.

What to expect

What stands at Ósvör is a reconstruction rather than a surviving station; by one account it was built as a film set in 1990.

Nearby

Bolungarvík is about 2 km to the west-north-west, Bolafjall about 6 km to the west-north-west and Ísafjörður about 9 km to the south-south-east, in a straight line.

Key facts