Núpsstaður, Iceland
Núpsstaður is the name of an old farmstead including a cowshed and several outhouses located in South Iceland near the largest glacier of Europe, the Vatnajökull with its regular volcanic eruptions and the Skaftafell National Park. Núpsstaður also counts a tiny turf church that is thought to have been built around 1650 but might even have been risen originally before 1200. The church was abandoned there in 1765. In 1930 the chapel was the first house in the country to be proclaimed inviolate, and in 1961 it was re-consecrated. The last inhabitants were two brothers, Eyjólfur Hannesson who died in 2004, 97 years old and Filippus Hannesson who died in 2010, at the age of 101. Their sister Margrét died when she was 107 years old but had already moved to a retirement home. Núpsstaður farm that had belonged to the same family since 1730 cannot be visited anymore and it is no longer possible to drive up to the farm as before. The national museum of Iceland, Þjóðminjasafnið, took over its control and in the years 1958-1960 it was repaired and restored. Núpsstaður is listed as natural remnants. The environment is beautiful not at least the majestic mountain of Lómagnúpur well known from the Brenne-Njáls saga.
Núpsstaður, Iceland
Núpsstaður is the name of an old farmstead including a cowshed and several outhouses located in South Iceland near the largest glacier of Europe, the Vatnajökull with its regular volcanic eruptions and the Skaftafell National Park. Núpsstaður also counts a tiny turf church that is thought to have been built around 1650 but might even have been risen originally before 1200. The church was abandoned there in 1765. In 1930 the chapel was the first house in the country to be proclaimed inviolate, and in 1961 it was re-consecrated. The last inhabitants were two brothers, Eyjólfur Hannesson who died in 2004, 97 years old and Filippus Hannesson who died in 2010, at the age of 101. Their sister Margrét died when she was 107 years old but had already moved to a retirement home. Núpsstaður farm that had belonged to the same family since 1730 cannot be visited anymore and it is no longer possible to drive up to the farm as before. The national museum of Iceland, Þjóðminjasafnið, took over its control and in the years 1958-1960 it was repaired and restored. Núpsstaður is listed as natural remnants. The environment is beautiful not at least the majestic mountain of Lómagnúpur well known from the Brenne-Njáls saga.