66°N 12‘ N; 18° 52‘ W
Siglufjörður - a worthy destination -
WELCOME to SIGLUFJÖRÐUR
Siglufjörður is Iceland’s northenmost town and is a historic fishing town who’s fame and fortune has always been linked to the ebb and flow of the fishing industry. A tiny shark fishing village in 1900, Siglufjörður soon became one of the largest towns in Iceland and the undisputed capital of herring fishing in the Atlantic. Although the herring has disappeared, the town bears the distinct imprint of “The Herring Era”. Siglufjörður is along with the community of Ólafsfjörður a part of The Municipality of Fjallabyggð, which came into being when the two communities were merged in 2006. The area maintains a flourishing cultural activity and is known for its dynamic and vibrant extracurricular activities. There are interesting galleries and artist studios to be visited in town. Since 2002 Siglufjörður has welcomed cruise ship passengers to visit this small town at the edge of North Iceland that is full of well kept history. By walking trough the Herring Era Museums three buildings one can easily sense the atmosphere of the old times, in the herring girls lodgings one can for example find a ball dress, red lipstick, loveletter or a knife for gutting the herring. When visiting the Folk Music Center guests get a good idea about Icelandic folk music when hearing local people singing traditional rhymes and folk songs. Last but not least a walk down by the harbour and around town offers guests to visit art galleries, restaurants and cafés, our local church and on a good summer day guests can watch local fishermen at work. Hope you enjoy your visit!
PORT of SIGLUFJÖRÐUR The harbour at Siglufjörður has long been considered one of the best in Iceland. As early as the Middle Ages, English and Dutch fishing and merchant ships favoured Siglufjörður as a convenient, sheltered base of operations. During the 20th Century, Siglufjörður became the centre of Iceland’s flourishing commercial herring fishing industry and its harbour one of the largest and most important in the country. In the heyday of the herring fishery,
Siglufjörður was a town filled with fish, jobs and money, a busy boomtown with a gold rush-like atmosphere that quickly earned the nicknames Klondike of the Atlantic, Fishermen’s Eldorado and Iceland’s Sodom. By mid-century 500 boats were active in the local herring fishery. In times of bad weather, hundreds of fishing boats would seek refuge, tying to the docks or anchoring in the fjord to wait out the storm. There were so many docks in the harbour that you had to travel a kilometre and a half to get from the first one to the last. In fact, laid end-to-end Siglufjörður’s docks would have stretched well over five kilometres!
With the disappearance of the herring from Iceland’s waters by 1970, the old wooden docks were replaced by permanent concrete. Though considerably smaller than in the past, the modern harbour is still just as protected and just as close to the fishing grounds as always. Today, the harbour is frequented by large shrimp trawlers and small cod-fishing boats delivering their catch to local processors. For cruise ship passengers visiting Siglufjörður, the main dock is centrally located just a short walk to local museums, galleries, restaurants and shops.
Lat 66° 12’ N; 18°52’ W. Situated on the N coast. Harbour master: Mayor of Siglufjörður, tel. 464-9100 Authority: tel. 464-9177, fax 464-9179, GSM 891-8716 Officals: Port Captain: Þorbjörn Sigurðsson, tel. 464-9177 Pilotage: Available. Pilot meets vessel about 400 m from harbour entrance. Largest Vessel: About 200m long at Town Quay, and 160m at Óskars Quay. Water: Fresh water can be supplied. Bunkers: Fuel available in general grades only. Ship repairs: Moderate sized vessels can be repaired. Diver available. Towage: Available.
Anchorages: Anchorage can be obtained E of the harbour in depts ranging from 25m to 30m, with good holding ground. Gales from N cause heavy seas, so vessels may seek anchorage in a small bay SW of Siglunes. Radio frequency information: Siglufjörður Radio, call sign TFX, 2182 kHz. VHF Channels 16, 24, 26 and 27. Accommodation: Town Quay is the main berth quay for cruise ships. It has a length of about 160m with a depth of 9,0 – 9,5m alongside. Óskars Quay is located further away from city center. It has a length of about 155m with a depth of 8,5m alongside.
Medical Facilities: A hospital is available. Working hours: 08:00-12:00, 13:00-17:00. Overtime can be arranged. Waste oil disposal: Tanks for 5000 l. Cargo gear: Crane capacity: 20 tons. Gangway/Deck Watchmen: Neccessary. Opening/closing hatches: Stevedores normally perform this work. Police/Ambulance: 112 Emergency number: 112
DAY TRIP from AKUREYRI
With the opening of the Héðinsfjörður Tunnel in 2010, the historic herring-fishing town of Siglufjord now makes a great 80km day trip from Akureyri. Nestled in a dramatic fjord on the very edge of Iceland’s steep northern mountains, Siglufjörður is home to
Proposed itinerary for a daytrip from Akureyri to Siglufjörður: Drive from Akureyri to Siglufjörður, enjoying stops in Dalvík, Ólafsfjörður and Héðinsfjörður.
[09:00]
[10:30]
[12:00]
Upon arriving in Siglufjörður, guests are invited to visit the award-winning Herring Era Museum of Iceland. The tour starts with a fun and energetic performance of the herring salting show. Step back in time as herring girls salt and pack herring into barrels under the watchful eye of the manager. Get caught up in the lively accordion music and ring-dancing before sampling traditional rye bread, local herring and Icelandic schnapps! Guests will enjoy a guided tour through the history of the herring fishing industry and be invited to explore the museum’s three buildings.
Guests will then tour the Reverend Bjarni Þorsteinsson Centre for Traditional Icelandic Music and learn about his important work in collecting and preserving the country’s musical heritage. The Centre offers a chance to see and hear Icelandic musical instruments from centuries past and the performance of traditional Icelandic ballads and rhymes.
Lunch time. The harbor has four restaurants, and some more are to be found at the main streets.
the internationally recognized Herring Era Museum of Iceland and the Reverend Bjarni Þorsteinsson Centre for Traditional Icelandic Folk Music. During the hour-long drive north, visitors can enjoy the breathtaking mountain and ocean views and look forward
to stopping for photographs in unsettled and pristine Héðinsfjörður. Before 2010, only hardy hikers and the occasional boater found their way into this hidden natural gem!
Note that both Iceland Travel and Atlatik Travel Agency offer day tours to Siglufjörður.
[13:00]
[14:00]
[14:00 / 18:00]
Guests will visit the Folk Music Centre and learn about Reverend Bjarni Þorsteinsson important work on collecting and preserving the country’s musical heritage. The Centre offers a chance to see and hear Icelandic musical instruments from centuries past and the performance of traditional Icelandic folk music and rhymes.
Guests are invited to explore Siglufjörður at their leisure, taking in the popular harbour and church or visiting local art galleries, cafes and shops.
Guests may choose to return to Akureyri after visiting the Reverend Bjarni Þorsteinsson Centre for Traditional Icelandic Music for a total trip time of four hours. For those who prefer, the return trip to Akureyri can be taken at the end of the day with the afternoon spent on a guided hike into the mountains above town. On clear days the view is unbelievable! At the top of the hike you can see in all directions across distant mountains, valleys and fjords and perhaps even catch a glimpse of Grímsey, the Icelandic island lying on the Arctic Circle north of Siglufjörður.
THE HERRING ERA MUSEUM The Herring Era Museum is one of Iceland’s largest maritime and industrial museums. It houses exhibitions describing herring fishing and shows how the silver of the sea was processed. The museum traces Iceland’s bumpy ride to prosperity after centuries of poverty - a venture that spanned much of the 20th century in which herring played a leading role. The course of events surrounding the herring were so important for the nation that it was dubbed as the ‘Herring Adventure’. Herring processing units, large and small, sprang up all over northern and eastern Iceland. Siglufjörður was the largest and most famous of them all. The shoals have long since disappeared, but evidence of this fantastic era can still be seen around the
town. The Herring Era Museum safeguards the community’s unique heritage - over 10,000 people lived and worked in the town when processing reached a peak, making it one of the largest towns in Iceland at the time. The main collection is housed in Róaldsbrakki, a Norwegian building erected in 1907 that was for many years Iceland's largest salting plant. Most of this four-storey building has been preserved in its original form, including the lodgings used by the young women who worked as herring girls, the office of the herring speculator and the herring plant. Grána is a building containing an exhibition that tells the story of how men and machines transformed herring into oil and
meal, long regarded as the first industrial process applied in Iceland. The central exhibit is a small herring factory from 1940 which produces two valuable products: fish meal and fish oil. The exhibition in The Boat House aims to give an impression of a typical herring port around 1950. Eleven boats of various types and sizes lie at the dock, while audiovisual material is presented about the herring fisheries from 1938. The Herring Era Museum was the first winner of the Icelandic Museum Award in 2000. The museum has also won a number of other awards including the European Museum Award, The Micheletti Award, as the best new industry museum in Europe in 2004. The museum receives groups on the dock for guided tours through the three museum buildings. Salting takes place outdoors in
front of the R贸aldsbrakki building. Local herring girls gut the herring and pack them in barrels while chatting, shouting, singing and flirting to recreate the atmosphere of the old times. They also sing and dance, and offer the guests to join in on a dockside ball with music provided by accordionists. At the end of the show, guests can taste pickled, spiced and smoked herring on rye bread, washed down with a shot of Icelandic schnapps.
MUSEUMS & CULTURE THE FOLK MUSIC CENTRE The Folk Music Centre in Siglufjordur is located in Siglufjordur's oldest house, the Madame House, where Rev. Bjarni Þorsteinsson lived from 1888 to 1898. Rev. Bjarni worked tirelessly to collect and preserve traditional Icelandic music. The mission of the Folk Music Centre is to honour Rev. Bjarni’s folk music collection, hold an annual folk music festival and promote Iceland’s traditional music both locally and abroad. The Centre presents Icelandic folk music in an accessible and entertaining manner through video recordings of people old and young, from all parts of Iceland, singing, chanting and playing traditional instruments. Visitors can take a crack at playing reproductions of an Icelandic fiddle and a langspil (a kind of bowed dulcimer), or just listen to the music while having coffee. Further information can be found at www.folkmusik.is.
THE ICELANDIC POETRY CENTRE The Icelandic Poetry Centre provides an opportunity for visitors to get acquainted with trends and movements in Icelandic poetry from the settlement era to the present day. Visitors are also able to study noteworthy books and objects and various other items connected with Icelandic poetry. The Centre has a library containing a large number of poetry books and other books related to poetry and poetic composition. Further information can be found at http://ljodasetur.123.is.
SAGA-FOTOGRAFICA The purpose of the museum is the preservation of equipment for photography and photo processing, from various times. Also, the Museum stands for the presentation of photographs, the history of photography and different methods of photo processing, as well as exhibitions of paintings and sculptures. The goal of the museum is to strengthen the interest in photography, promoting its history and different methods of taking photographs and display photographic works. See: http://fotografica.is/
SIGLUFJÖRÐUR‘S CHURCH Siglufjörður Church was built in 1931-1932. It is approximately 35m long and 12m wide, seating about 400 people. The steeple is approximately 30m high, and accommodates two large church bells. When the bishop of Iceland, Jón Helgason, consecrated the building, 28 August 1932, the construction work had taken a total of 67 weeks and two days, resulting in the largest church in Iceland, with the exception of Christ Church in Landakot, Reykjavík, which had been built in 1929. The church’s greatest adornment, the altar piece painted by Gunnlaugur Blöndal, was unveiled in 1937 and is a present from the herring speculator Ingvar Guðjónsson and others. On the south wall of the nave is another altar-piece which the merchant August Engelbrekt Platfod presented to Hvanneyri
Church in 1726 and is an illustration of The Last Supper. On the north wall is an altar piece given to the Þormóðseyri Church in 1903 by the Siglufjörður merchant Vilhelm Jónsson. This work represents Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and was made by Anker Lund in Copenhagen. Four ceremonial chairs were carved by Hjörtur Ármannsson, carpenter and policeman; two of those were presented by the Siglufjörður Church Sisters’ Association in 1970 and the remaining two were given to the church in1975 by Jón Kjartansson, former mayor of the town, and his family. The stained glass windows were created by the artist Marie Katzgrau and installed in autumn 1974. A total of nine vicars have served the current church.
HIKING TRAILS & NATURAL SURROUNDINGS Siglufjörður is an area of spectacular natural beauty. The mountains and the fjords are awe-inspiring and the opportunities for outdoors activities and recreation are almost inexhaustible. The closeness to nature is always within reach, whether you wish to go on a hike, play golf, try ocean swimming, go skiing, surfing or angling on the lakes, rivers or
the ocean. As the northernmost populated part of Iceland, Fjallabyggð is the perfect location to enjoy the midnight sun in the summer and see the Northern Lights in the winter. There are hiking trails for all levels of experience in the mountains and valleys sorrounding Siglufjörður and Ólafsfjörður.
The most popular trails lead into neighbouring Héðinsfjörður, an uninhabited fiord of pristine and natural beauty. For groups it is possible to arrange guided hikes around the trails shown on the map. Hikers should wear good shoes, be well equipped and cautious. The area around the town of Siglufjörður was formed when glaciers carved a way through the volcanic mountains. The lava that formed these highlands flowed many millions of years ago. Glacial action during subsequent ice ages left jagged peaks, rocky dells and deep
valleys. Since the end of the last ice age, 10,000 years ago, the weather and the sea have combined to erode the land and create additional, magnificent natural features. Rich vegetation grows at the foot of the mountains and well up the slopes. Forestry projects in the Afforestation Park in Skarðdalur have flourished, and attractive woodland now covers a large area of land around a tumbling waterfall called Leyningsfoss. This is a favourite outdoor location for the residents of Siglufjörður.
GALLERIES ABBY - ART GALLERY Aðalgata 13 The local artist Arnfinna Björnsdóttir has her art on display and for sale. Monday to Friday from 14:00 - 17:00 and by request on weekends. Her exeptional collage art, prints, and paintings are all based on her childhood memories from the herring era. Pay her a visit and you will get a warm welcome.
FRIDA - ART GALLERY Túngata 40a Local artist Fríða Gylfadóttir, has her art on display and for sale at her studio at Túngata 40a. Open by request and when she is at hand, working. Her art centeres mainly around working with chairs and painting paintings of the Icelandic horses. Fríða and her familiy keep horses and by painting them she wants to show you how adorable and lovely they are to be around. Guests always welcome.
RESTAURANTS & CAFÉS Allinn, Restaurant & Sport Bar Aðalgata 30
Fiskbúðin - Local fish store Aðalgata 27
Hannes Boy, Restaurant Gránugata 23
Torgið, Restaurant Aðalgata 32
Kaffi Rauðka Gránugata 19
Aðalbakarí, local Bakery Aðalgata 26
Harbour House, Seafood restaurant Gránugata 5b
Sunna, Restaurant Snorragata 3
Published by: Fjallabyggð Editing: Anita Elefsen and Kristinn Reimarsson Cooperating with: The Herring Era Museum and Port of Siglufjörður Printing: Ásprent Photos: Örlygur Kristfinnsson, Steingrímur Kristinsson, Sigurður Ægisson, Fiann Paul, Jón Steinar Ragnarsson, Gunnlaugur Guðleifsson, Björn Valdimarsson, Sigurður Ægisson