Videy
Small volcanic island whose ancient crater now shelters bogs, meadows and nesting seabirds.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Videy in Reykjavik's harbor traces the island back to a Pleistocene volcano whose collapsed crater now lies mostly drowned beneath the bay, with today's island sitting near its center. It follows how bog and meadow softened over the basalt, and how Augustinian monks and later a stone house tried to make a permanent home here before the last residents left in nineteen forty-three. You'll hear about the eider ducks and other seabirds that nest by the thousands along the old crater's rim. Listen for the low, rolling call of the eider drake as you walk.
This audio guide was created using AI.
Similar places
Heiðmörk
Pseudocrater cluster and reforested heath where quarrying for a wartime airport nearly erased a volcanic landmark.
Rauðhólar
Cluster of rust-red pseudocraters carved by steam explosions, once numbering in the hundreds before quarrying stripped most away.
Grótta Lighthouse
White concrete tower on a tidal islet, reachable on foot only within the sea's own six-hour clock.
Tjörnin
Shallow city-center lagoon where ducks and swans crowd a geothermally warm corner all winter while the rest freezes for skaters.
Esjan
Volcanic mountain range of basalt and tuff, its name an old word for flagstone, rising north of the capital.
Grasagarður Botanical Garden
Open-air living collection of Iceland's native flora beside a bird-filled pond in a city valley.