Flatey Island
Flatey is a small car-free island in Breiðafjörður bay in West Iceland, roughly 2 kilometres long and 1 kilometre wide, sitting halfway between the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and the Westfjords. It has around five permanent residents and is one of the most intact examples of a traditional Icelandic island settlement, with a cluster of restored 19th-century timber buildings arranged along a single unpaved lane, a painted church, and no motor traffic. A monastery was founded on the island in 1172, making it one of Iceland's earliest centres of scholarship, and the island gave its name to the Flateyjarbók, the largest medieval Icelandic manuscript, which was kept here before being sent to Denmark in the 17th century and later returned to Iceland. The oldest and smallest library in Iceland, established in 1864, stands on the island and once housed the manuscript.
A Tiny Car-Free Island with Five Residents, a Medieval Manuscript, and the Oldest Library in Iceland
Flatey has been inhabited since the earliest centuries of Icelandic settlement, and a monastery founded here in 1172 made it a centre of learning and religious life for several centuries. The Flateyjarbók was compiled on the island in the late 14th century by two priests, Jón Þórðarson and Magnús Þórhallsson, and is the largest medieval Icelandic manuscript in existence, comprising 225 vellum leaves covering Norse kings' sagas and other historical and literary material. The manuscript takes its name from the island. In the 17th century, the Bishop of Skálholt requested it for the Danish king; the island's owner, Jón Finnsson, initially refused to part with what he considered Iceland's finest book, but eventually conceded. The Flateyjarbók was held in Copenhagen for centuries before being returned to Iceland in 1971, where it is now held at the Árni Magnússon Institute in Reykjavík. The library on Flatey, established in 1864, is the oldest in Iceland and once housed the manuscript before its removal.
By the 19th century Flatey had developed into a prosperous trading centre and received a trading licence from the Danish Crown in 1777. The timber buildings that survive from this commercial period line the island's single unpaved main street and give the settlement its distinctive character. There are no cars on the island and no roads requiring them. The church, built in 1926, contains interior murals painted by the Catalan artist Baltasar Samper in the 1960s, depicting scenes from the island's history and folklore. Samper reportedly painted the murals in exchange for free accommodation while staying on the island. The combination of quiet streets, historic architecture, abundant birdlife, and the quality of light over the bay in summer makes Flatey one of the most atmospheric places in Iceland.
Flatey is accessible by the Baldur ferry, which crosses Breiðafjörður between Stykkishólmur on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and Brjánslækur in the Westfjords. The ferry stops at Flatey in both directions during summer, and passengers can disembark and spend a few hours on the island before catching the next sailing. The island has a hotel and a small café. Puffins nest on the outer edges of the island in summer and are easily observed at close range. White-tailed eagles are frequently seen over the bay. Flatey is best visited between May and September, when the ferry runs its summer schedule and the island is most accessible.
