thumb|300px|Grænavatn, Krýsuvíkurskóli, Sveifluháls with geothermal areas
Krýsuvík (also Krísuvík, both pronounced in Icelandic) is an area in Southwest Iceland at about 35 km from Reykjavík.
Geography and access
It is situated on the Reykjanes peninsula between Þorlákshöfn and Grindavík and accessed by Routes 42 and 427.
Name
The name Krýsuvík means "bay of Krýsa," a folk tale figure from the area. Krýsa was an old woman who, together with her cousin Herdís, could use witchcraft. They had a discussion about the borders of their respective lands; one wanted to cast a spell so that all the fish in a nearby lake would be hairy, the other intended to bring up a storm and let all fishermen die. The dispute ended with the death of both of them. The folk tale says that they were buried side by side, and the place of the graves is still known to locals.
The Ögmundarhraun lava flows which were emitted by the nearby Krýsuvík volcanic system in the 12th century, destroyed the Krýsuvík farm, which was located at the coast, and filled up the bay.
History
thumb|The old Krýsuvikurkirkja, March 2007
There were farms in the vicinity from the Middle Ages till 1945. However, Krýsuvík was too far away from upcoming industry and commerce and therefore abandoned in the middle of the 20th century.
As all the estate farms in Iceland, Krýsuvík had its own small proprietary church, in this case from the 13th century until 2010. The last building was a 19th century timber church built in 1857. The church was then changed into an apartment building for some time after 1927. In 1964, the mayor of Hafnarfjörður had the church renovated and used for weddings and placed under the protection of the National Museum
Sites
thumb|The maar Grænavatn with the buildings of the "new" farm
thumb|Geothermal area of Seltún in 2018
thumb|Aerial photographs of Ögmundarhraun lava field
thumb|Sea cliffs of Krýsuvíkurbjarg
thumb|Puffins at Krýsuvíkurbjarg
Under the mountain Bæjarfell is a boarding school for young people who have problems with drug abuse.
In the vicinity are some maars and the high temperature geothermal area of Seltún, all part of the Krýsuvík volcanic system. The largest lake in the area, Kleifarvatn, began to diminish after an earthquake in 2000; 20% of its surface disappeared by 2005, but it had filled up again by 2019. Many interesting tuff rock formations are to be found at its western coast near Route 42 on the slopes of Sveifluháls.
The Ögmundarhraun lava field south of Krýsuvík includes some kīpukas, vegetation islands in the lava field, which can be reached by hiking trails. One of them, the Húshólmi , contains some ruins of the medieval farm of Krýsuvík. Scientists identified some stone fences within the same kipuka as being older as the official time of settlement (874). They used tephrochronology and saw that the famous bimodal settlement tephra (landnámslagið) derived from a combined eruption series within the Bárðarbunga-Veiðivötn and Torfajökull systems in the years 871-874, was covering these structures.
A jeep track runs down to the sea from Krýsuvík and Route 427. It ends at the high cliffs of Krýsuvíkurbjarg or Krýsuvíkurberg which are renowned as bird cliffs with thousands of Icelandic sea birds like arctic terns, puffins, fulmars and more. The lava flows covering the area came mostly from the crater up on Geitahlíð tuya, not from the Krýsuvík, but from the neighbouring Brennisteinsfjöll volcanic system. The area is protected as part of Reykjanesfólkvangur.
Krýsuvík is a popular hiking area, and tourism infrastructure such as wooden pathways has been developed.
The music video for the song "Never Forget" by Greta Salóme and Jónsi was filmed in this area.
See also
- Krýsuvík fires