Faxaflói (sometimes Faxa Bay, Faxe Bay or Faxi Bay,Thorstein Thorsteinsson. 1930. ''Iceland, 1930: A Handbook Published on the Fortieth Anniversary of Landsbanki Íslands (National Bank of Iceland)''. Reykjavík: Ríkisprentsmidjan Gutenberg. is, Faxaflói ), is a bay in southwest

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, between the peninsulas of

Snæfellsnes The Snæfellsnes () is a peninsula situated to the west of Borgarfjörður, in western Iceland. The Snæfellsjökull volcano, regarded as one of the symbols of Iceland, can be found in the area. With its height of 1446 m, it is the highest ...

and

Reykjanes Reykjanes () is a small headland on the southwestern tip of the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland, giving the main peninsula its name. The region is about from Iceland's international airport. As the name means "smoking peninsula" connected to vol ...

Geography

The capital of the island,

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

, is situated on its southern shore within the minor fjord

Kollafjörður The fjords of Iceland, listed in a clockwise direction round the island from the SW to the east. There are no important fjords along the south coast: most of the inlets there are lagoons. Western fjords * Faxaflói ** Stakksfjörður ** Hafnarfj ...

. From Reykjavik it is possible to see the peninsula of

Akranes Akranes () is a port town and municipality on the west coast of Iceland, around north of the capital Reykjavík. The area where Akranes is located was settled in the 9th century; however, it did not receive a municipal charter until 1942. His ...

in the northeast and even the

Snæfellsjökull Snæfellsjökull (, ''snow-fell glacier'') is a 700,000-year-old glacier-capped stratovolcano in western Iceland. It is situated on the westernmost part of the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland. Sometimes it may be seen from the city of Reykjav� ...

at a distance of about 120 km (75 mi). This bay has few islands and the ones it does have are close to land, in particular contrast to the bay directly north of it,

Breiðafjörður Breiðafjörður (, ''wide fjord'') is a large shallow bay, about 50 km wide and 125 km long, in the west of Iceland. It separates the region of the Westfjords (Vestfirðir) from the Snæfellsnes peninsula to the south. Breiðafjörðu ...

, which has the most islands of any bay in Iceland.

Islands in Faxaflói Bay near Reykjavík

Akurey Akurey () is a small island near the coast of Reykjavík. The earliest sources on the island are from 1379 when it belonged to the Víkurkirkja. The city of Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is loc ...

* Engey * Hólmar * Lundey *

Viðey Viðey (; sometimes anglicised as Videy) is the largest island of the Kollafjörður Bay in Iceland, near the capital of Reykjavík. Overview The island covers ; its highest point is above sea level. The island is divided by a narrow piece ...

* Þerney

History

Faxa Bay has always been a source of nourishment of the people living on its shore. In former times, fishermen went out in small boats to fish near the shore. Today the ships are much bigger, but have to go farther out to sea if they wish to catch fish. Just north of Reykjavík in

is the small island

. In modern times, it has been uninhabited since 1943 but a former settlement has been proven from the 10th century onward. During the 12th century a chapel was constructed, and a monastery was founded in 1225, existing until the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

at the end of the 16th century. The island and the remains of the settlement can be visited by taking a ferry from Reykjavík harbour.

Name

The name ''Faxaflói'' means 'Faxi's Bay' or 'Faxe's Bay'. The first part, ''Faxa'', is the genitive of the name ''Faxi'' or ''Faxe'', referring to a man on one of the first Norse boat trips to the island.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faxafloi Bays of Iceland Southwest Iceland