NESVEGUR GRIMSNESI, SOUTH ICELAND: LUXURY COTTAGE IN NATURAL SETTING; Built in 2006, this 144,6sqm beautiful and spacious log cabin in South Iceland, which can be used all year round, is situated on a privately owned 1 hectare plot with a fishing river. The groundfloor is 105,5sqm and the sleeping loft is 22,9sqm. A 5sqm storage is attached to the house and a 11,2sqm guest house built 1977. The house has three bedrooms and a sleeping loft, a large open plan living room and kitchen, and 200 sqm. terrace with hot tub for 8-10 people. It is heated geothermally, with underfloor heating, hot and cold water and electricity.

The house has equipments such as a washing machine a dryer and a dish-washer.

In the river at the premises you can fish salmon and trout without extra payment.

Affording splendid views, the house is in an excellent area for golf, hiking and outside geothermally heated swimming pools.

Located 75km, or a 55 minute drive, from Reykjavik it is only a 25 minute drive from Selfoss - the biggest town in south Iceland. It is also close to a local golf course, outside swimming pools and fishing rivers. Historical and natural attractions include the Geysir, Gullfoss and Thingvellir.
Below are pictures of the property............

Below are pictures of and knowledge about the interesting places in the near area.............

River rafting and kyaking is also popular on the rivers as below.....

In the neighbourhood are historical and geological famous and unique places, such as Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellir.

The famous waterfall GULLFOSS is in the neighbourhood

The famous waterfall GULLFOSS

The famous geological and unique place GEYSIR is not far

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The erupting Great Geysir

Geysir (sometimes known as The Great Geysir), in the Haukadalur valley, Iceland, is the oldest known geyser. The English word geyser to describe a spouting hot spring derives from Geysir (which itself is derived from the Icelandic verb gjósa meaning to erupt. The English verb gush is probably related to that word). Geysir lies on the slopes of Laugarfjall hill at 64°19?0.05?N 20°17?59.64?W? / ?64.3166806°N 20.2999°W? / 64.3166806; -20.2999, which is also the home to Strokkur geyser about 400 metres south.

Eruptions at Geysir can hurl boiling water up to 60 metres in the air. However, eruptions may be infrequent, and have in the past stopped altogether for years at a time.

The oldest accounts of a geyser at Haukadalur date back to 1294. Earthquakes in the area caused significant changes in local neighbouring landscape creating several new hot springs. Changes in the activity of the Geysir and the surrounding geysers are strongly related to earthquake activity. In records dated 1630 the geysers erupted so violently that the valley around them trembled.

In recent times earthquakes have tended to revive the activity of Geysir which then subsides again in the following years. Before 1896 Geysir was almost dormant before an earthquake that year caused eruptions to begin again, occurring several times a day, lasting up to an hour and causing spouts of up to 60 metres in height. In 1910, it was active every 30 minutes; five years later the time between the eruptions was as much as six hours, and in 1916, the eruptions all but ceased. In 1935 a manmade channel was dug through the silica rim around the edge of the geyser vent. This ditch caused a lowering of the water table and a revival in activity. Gradually this channel too clogged with silica and eruptions again became rare. In 1981 the ditch was cleared again and eruptions could be stimulated, on special occasions, by the addition of soap. Following environmental concerns the practice of adding soap was seldom employed during the 1990s. During that time Geysir seldom erupted. When it did erupt, it was spectacular, sending boiling water about forty metres into the air. On the Icelandic National Day authorized government geologists would force an eruption. A further earthquake in 2000 revived the geyser again. Initially eruptions were taking place on average eight times a day. By July 2003 this activity had again decreased to around three times per day.

The nearby geyser Strokkur erupts much more frequently than Geysir, erupting to heights of up to 20 metres every five minutes or so. Strokkur's activity has also been affected by earthquakes, although to a lesser extent than the Great Geysir. There are around thirty much smaller geysers and hot pools in the area, including one called Litli Geysir ('Little Geysir').

Litli Geysir, Haukadalur, Iceland

Descriptions of the Great Geysir and Strokkur have been given in every travel guide to Iceland published from the 18th century onwards. Today the geyser remains an essential element of almost every tourist's itinerary. The place is, together with Þingvellir and the Gullfoss waterfall, part of the most famous sights of Iceland, the Golden Circle.

A forest near the Geysir.

Below are pictures of GEYSIR in action......

File:Strokkur Geysir Iceland 2005-4.JPG

File:Strokkur Geysir Iceland 2005-6.JPG

The National park THINGVELLIR is in the neighbourhood.....

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Þingvellir National Park*
UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Icelandic flag at Þingvellir
State Party Iceland
Type Cultural
Criteria iii, vi
Reference 1152
Region** Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription 2004 (28th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
** Region as classified by UNESCO.

Þingvellir (Icelandic: Þing: 'parliament', vellir: 'meadows')(sometimes transliterated Thingvellir), is a place in Bláskógarbyggð in southwestern Iceland, near the peninsula of Reykjanes and the Hengill volcanic area. Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological importance and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. Þingvellir National Park was founded in 1930 to protect the remains of the parliament site and was later expanded to protect natural phenomena in the surrounding area. Þingvellir National Park was the first national park in Iceland and was decreed "a protected national shrine for all Icelanders, the perpetual property of the Icelandic nation under the preservation of parliament, never to be sold or mortgaged."[1]

Parliament or Alþingi was established at Þingvellir in 930 and remained there until 1789.[2] Þingvellir is the site of a rift valley and home to Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.[citation needed]

*

[edit] Founding of Parliament

Around 870 Iceland was settled by people from Scandinavia and the British Isles. Early on, district assemblies were formed, but as the population grew there was a need for a general assembly. The descendants of Ingólfur Arnarson who dominated the region of southwest Iceland had become the most powerful family in the country, and other chieftains felt a need for a general assembly to limit their power. Grímur Geitskör was allotted the role of rallying support and finding a suitable location for the assembly. At about the same time, the owner of Bláskógar (then name for the Þingvellir region) was found guilty of murder and his land was declared public and obligated to be used for assembly proceedings, the building of temporary dwellings, the use of the forest for kindling and the grazing of horses. The Þingvellir region was chosen for this reason and the accessibility from the most populated regions of the North, South and West.[3] The farthest distance a goði (chieftain) had to travel was 17 days traveling from the easternmost part of the country where mountains and glacial rivers proved bothersome obstacles.[2] The foundation of the Icelandic parliament is said to be the founding of the nation of Iceland, and the first parliamentary proceedings in the summer of 930 laid ground for a common cultural heritage and national identity. Þingvellir played a central role in the history of the country, and its history runs almost parallel with the history of the Icelandic Commonwealth.

[edit] From commonwealth to foreign rule

The Alþing (assembly) at Þingvellir was Iceland's supreme legislative and judicial authority from its establishment in 930 until 1271. The Lögberg (Law Rock) was the focal point of the Alþing and a natural platform for holding speeches. The Lawspeaker, elected for three years at a time, presided over the assembly and recited the law of the land. Before the law was written down, he was expected to recite it from memory on the Lögberg over the course of three summers along with the complete assembly procedures every summer. Inauguration and dissolution of the assembly took place at the Lögberg, where rulings made by the Law Council were announced, the calendar was confirmed, legal actions were brought and other announcements made which concerned the entire nation. Anyone attending the assembly was entitled to present his case on important issues from the Lögberg.

The Law Council served as both a parliament and supreme court. Laws were passed and approved there, and rulings made on points of Law. The Law Council appointed members of the Fifth Court (a kind of appellate court), appointed the Lawspeaker, and took part in the election of the bishop. Unlike the Alþing, the Law Council was a closed body in which only certain people enjoyed full rights: chieftains who held the office of "goði", their "Þingmen" and later also bishops. However, everyone at the assembly was entitled to watch and listen to the Law Council at work.

From the earliest times until the 15th century, the Law Council met at Neðri-Vellir on the east bank of Öxará, but when the river changed its course around 1500, the council was moved to an islet in it. In 1594, the Law Council was relocated to the foot of the ancient Law Rock, where it remained until the Alþing was finally transferred from it in 1798.

The Alþing was Iceland's legislative and chief judicial authority for the duration of the Commonwealth, until 1271. Executive power was in the hands of the chieftains and parties to individual cases at each time. This proved to be quite an adequate arrangement for as long as the balance of power remained, but flaws emerged when it was disrupted. The final decades of the Commonwealth were characterized by clashes between chieftain families, which resulted in Iceland becoming part of the Norwegian crown. Executive power was strengthened under this new order, while legislative and judicial authority remained in the hands of the Alþing but was gradually transferred to the Norwegian and later Danish rulers until the King of Denmark became an absolute monarch of Iceland in 1662.

[edit] Social center

Þingvellir was the center of Icelandic culture. Every year during the Commonwealth period, people would flock to Þingvellir from all over the country, sometimes numbering in the thousands. They set up dwellings with walls of turf and rock and temporary roofing and stayed in them for the two weeks of the assembly. Although the duties of the assembly were the real reason for going there, ordinary people gathered at Þingvellir for a wide variety of reasons. Merchants, sword-sharpeners and tanners would sell their goods and services, clowns performed and ale-makers brewed drinks for the assembly guests. News was told from distant parts; games and feasts were held. Young people met to make their plans, no less than leading national figures and experts in law. Itinerant farmhands looked for work and vagrants begged. Þingvellir was a meeting place for everyone in Iceland, laying the foundation for the language and literature that have been a prominent part of people's lives right up to the present day.[citation needed]

Map of Iceland indicating Þingvellir

Þingvellir became a national park in 1928 due to its historical importance, as well as the special tectonic and volcanic environment.

The continental drift between the North American and Eurasian Plates can be clearly seen in the cracks or faults which are traversing the region, the biggest one, Almannagjá, being a veritable canyon.[citation needed] This also causes the often-measurable earthquakes in the area.[4]

Some of the rifts are full of surprisingly clear water. One, Nikulásargjá, is better known as Peningagjá (lit. "coin fissure"), as it is littered with coins at its bottom. After being bridged in 1907 for the arrival of King Frederick VIII of Denmark, visitors began to throw coins in the fissure, a tradition based on European legends.

Þingvellir is situated on the northern shore of Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake of Iceland. The river Öxará traverses the national park and forms a waterfall at the Almannagjá, called Öxarárfoss. Together with the waterfall Gullfoss and the geysers of Haukadalur, Þingvellir is part of the most famous sights of Iceland, the Golden Circle.

Þingvellir is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Below are pictures from THINGVELLIR

Almannagja in Thingvellir

Thingvellir National Park

Thingvellir National Park.

This is the rift between the North American

and European Continents

BELOW IS A MAP OF SOUTH ICELAND .............

Please contact us for further information

Thuridur Halldorsdottir, lawyer and a certified real estate agent

Hverfisgata105- 101 Reykjavik - ICELAND

TEL: 00 354 6960646 - Web site www.hibyliogskip.is

EMAIL: hibyliogskip@hibyliogskip.is thuridurkh@islandia.is

FAX: 00 354 5517271