View allAll Photos Tagged vik
Vik isn't the prettiest town in Iceland: Seyðisfjörður, Húsavík and Stykkishólmur are more charming. But just look at that setting. Around the bend, past the Reynisdrangar sea stacks, are the famous Reynisfjara black sand beach and basalt columns of Gardar.
Vik means inlet and the village is located in a natural bay or inlet, protected by mountains on three sides and only open to the ocean in the south. Here we look along the black beach, to the west. Notice the curious lava rock formations protruding from the ocean.
A exposição VIK está no MAM de 23/01 até 08/03 (terça/domingo). Projeto educativo: Tatiana Drummond Moura e Rosane Cantanhêde.
The village of Vík (or Vík í Mýrdal in full) is the southernmost village in Iceland, located on the main ring road around the island, around 180 km (110 mi) by road southeast of Reykjavík.
Despite its small size (291 inhabitants as of January 2011) it is the largest settlement for some 70 km (43 mi) around and is an important staging post, thus it is indicated on road signs from a long distance away. It is an important service center for the inhabitants and visitors to the coastal strip between Skógar and the west edge of the Mýrdalssandur glacial outwash plain.
In 1991, the American journal Islands Magazine counted this beach as one of the ten most beautiful beaches on Earth. Its stretch of black basalt sand is one of the wettest places in Iceland. The cliffs west of the beach are home to many seabirds, most notably puffins which burrow into the shallow soils during the nesting season. Offshore lie fingers of basalt rock (stacks) remnants of a once more extensive cliffline Reynisfjall now battered by the sea. There is no landmass between here and Antarctica and the Atlantic rollers can attack with full force. Folklore tells us that they are former trolls who tried to drag their boats out to sea only to be caught by the rising dawn. The sea around them is rather wild and stormy, so travelers will not be surprised to discover a monument to the memory of drowned seamen on the beach.
The village was affected by volcanic ash during the 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull.
Vík lies directly beneath the Mýrdalsjökull glacier, which itself is on top of the Katla volcano. Katla has not erupted since 1918, and this longer than typical repose period has led to speculation that an eruption may occur soon. An eruption of Katla could melt enough ice to trigger an enormous flash flood, potentially large enough to obliterate the entire town. The town's church, located high on a hill, is believed to be the only building that would survive such a flood .
Vik is a small town just off the Sognefjord, the largest fjord in Norway. This waterfall drops down at the edge of the town.
Devoted to the work of Ingebrigt Vik (1867-1927), one of Norway's greatest sculptors. The collection consists of about one hundred sculptures bequeathed by Vik to Øystese, his native village. The building was originally designed by Torgeir Alvsaker (1875-1971) and opened in 1934. It has since been modified and expanded a couple of times.