Mývatn, Iceland - Mývatnssveit - multiview postcard c.1980s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Mývatnssveit [the area around Mývatn] - multiview
• Publisher: Solarfilma, Reykjavik
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Mývatnssveit is the countryside around Mývatn in Suður-Þingeyjarsýsla and the lake makes a great impression on the countryside, its nature and ecosystem, but it is about 37 square kilometers and very shallow.

The landscape of the area is also strongly shaped by volcanoes and volcanoes that have spewed ash and lava over the area, such as Krafla and Hverfell or Hverfjall, which is one of the largest craters in the world, about 1 km in diameter and formed in a powerful eruption about 2500 years ago. It is easy to walk up to the edge of the crater.

In Mývatnssveit there are also artificial craters , which are formed when lava flows over water or wetlands. There will then be a steam explosion under the lava and the artificial craters will form. The best known are Skútustaðagígar , which have been protected as natural monsters since 1973.

The most lava formations are considered to be in the Dimmuborgir , east of the lake. There are all kinds of strange lava formations, caves and perforated rocks. Dark cities were formed in an eruption in Þrengslaborg about 2000 years ago. The last eruptions in the area were the Mývatn fires in the years 1724-1729 and the Krafla fires 1975-1784.

Other well-known mountains that surround the countryside include Vindbelg , Sellandafjall , Bláfjall and Reykjahlíðarfjall . To the east of Námafjall there is a large sulfur area and sulfur mines were there centuries ago and the sulfur was exported. There is a lot of geothermal energy in Mývatnssveit and in Bjarnarflag is the oldest steam power plant in the country, but the Krafla power plant is much larger and better known. 

It was previously thought that Mývatnssveit had been built at the end of the settlement age, when the lowlands were fully developed, and Landnámabók lists three people who first lived in the area, but none of them is called a settler . These were Þorsteinn Sigmundarson , who probably lived in Reykjahlíð , Þorkell hái , who lived at Grænavatn , and Geiri , who lived at Geirastaðir south of Mývatn. On the other hand, archeological research has indicated that the area was built around 870. Extensive archeological excavations and research have taken place at Hofstaðir in Mývatnssveit in recent years. [1]

Sheep farming and trout fishing have long been Mývetningar's main livelihoods. In the last century, diatoms were processed there for almost forty years and many people were employed in the diatomaceous earth industry, but its operation was stopped in 2004. Tourism is now an important industry in the countryside. It is densely populated by Lake Mývatn and in Reykjahlíð there is a village, in addition to which there is a small settlement in Skútustaðir .

Baths or saunas have long been practiced by Lake Mývatn and there are various antiquities and legends as evidence of this, as well as the place name Jarðbaðshólar. Grjótagjá was a popular bathing spot in a cave half full of hot water, but in the Krafla fires around 1977 the temperature of the water in the gorge rose so much that it was impossible to bathe there. However, it has fallen somewhat again in recent years. Stóragjá took over as a bathing place to some extent, but was much more inconvenient than Grjótagjá had been. In 2004, the Jarðböðin by Lake Mývatn was opened, where there is a bathing pool with hot water and natural saunas. [2]