Eldheimar

Eldheimar — whose name means ‘worlds of fire’ — is one of Iceland’s most emotionally resonant museums, opened in 2014 on Heimaey in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago. The building is literally constructed around a real house that was buried by lava and ash during the catastrophic Eldfell eruption of January 1973, when the entire population of Heimaey was evacuated overnight to the mainland.

Multimedia exhibits, personal testimonies, and recovered objects tell the story of the eruption that lasted five months, adding two square kilometres of new land to the island. The decision to pump cold seawater onto the lava front to slow its advance and save the harbour — an improvised engineering triumph — is recounted in gripping detail.

Eldheimar is on Heimaey, which is reached by ferry from Landeyjahöfn (about 35 minutes) or by short domestic flight. The museum is open year-round with extended summer hours. A combined visit with the Stafkirkjan stave church and Eldfell volcano crater makes for a full day on the island.