GrindavÃk
63 842 - 22.4377Koordinaten: 63 ° 50 ' 31 " N, 22 ° 26' 16 " W
Grindavík (Eng. " lattice Bay " ) is a city in southwest Iceland on the Reykjanesskagi Peninsula.
General
The city has one of the few ports on the flat south coast. Most of the 3,000 inhabitants work in the fishing industry. On 1 January 2009 Grindavík had 2850 inhabitants. The distance to Reykjavík is 39 km.
In Grindavík there is an esoteric center, which manifests itself in a sun circle. Many foreigners, especially Japanese and Koreans, sometimes with entire company workforces, so come here.
History
The area was already inhabited during the Conquest in 934, according to the Hungarian conquest book. As in 1602, the Danish trade monopoly was introduced, they made Grindavík to the commercial harbor. However, the place had no natural harbor, but the boats were pulled ashore for centuries.
In 1627 the so-called Turkish invasion took place. Algerian pirates who raided ships with four Icelandic coastal towns, including Grindavík, but especially the Vestmannaeyjar and stole a total of more than 300 women and children. These were shipped to North Africa and sold into slavery. About a third of them could be ransomed by years.
With the construction of a new port in Hópið 1939, the fishing conditions and the fish industry facilitated moved itself. 1974 Grindavík became a separate parish.
Fisheries and Economics
The majority of the inhabitants live from fishing, processing and trading. There are very good fishing right in front of Grindavík on the shelf base of Reykjanesrückens. As a result of the now -developed harbor has a great importance for the economy of the country.
Caught off the coast fish - mostly herring, capelin, catfish and cod - was dried until the late 19th century and preserved in this way. Since the end of the 19th century, however, he was placed in salt and frozen since the second half of the 20th century.
There is also the salt fish museum Grindavík representing catching and processing methods.
Meanwhile, more and more people commute to Reykjavík and land prices tend upward.
Sports
In Grindavík there is the sports club Ungmennafélag Grindavíkur ( UMFG ).
Attractions
About four kilometers north of Grindavík is the Blue Lagoon ( Icelandic: Bláa Lónið ), a geothermal source, which uses hot mineral water of the nearby Svartsengi power plant. On the south-east of the town peninsula of Hópsnes the grellorangene Hópsnesviti lighthouse is from 1928. Around the tower are some badly rusted wrecks of ships that crashed in the dangerous surf of the coast. In addition, located in Grindavík two churches: the older, traditional corrugated iron clad Grindavíkurkirkja eldri of 1909 and the larger concrete church Grindavíkurkirkja yngri of 1982.
Transmitter of the U.S. armed forces
In Grindavik a VLF transmitter of the U.S. armed forces exist. It has 2 masts, which are 182.9 meters and 304.8 meters high and was built in 1983 and 1993 respectively. The latter is the second tallest building in Iceland.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Guðbergur Bergsson (* 1932), writer
- Kalli Bjarni, first winner of the Icelandic edition of Pop Idol