Hekla

During the Middle Ages Hekla was tagged as “Gateway to Hell ” by monks who took tales of this blazing volcano far into Europe and this belief persisted till late 19th century with various interesting stories in this regard. Situated about 155 km from Reykjavik in Rangárþing ytra municipality,

During the Middle Ages Hekla was tagged as “Gateway to Hell ” by monks who took tales of this blazing volcano far into Europe and this belief persisted till late 19th century with various interesting stories in this regard. Situated about 155 km from Reykjavik in Rangárþing ytra municipality,

Mount Hekla is located in a very active volcanic region and is often described as the most active volcano in Iceland, with over 20 recorded eruptions since 874 AD. The name Hekla essentially means ‘short hooded cloak’ in Icelandic, possibly due to the fact that clouds always seem to cloak the summit. Volcanologists believe that an eruption is due and are constantly monitoring the volcano which last erupted in 2000. In fact, the volcano has erupted four times during the 20th century, while the largest eruption occurred during 1104, that too without a warning. Standing tall at 1491 metres, Hekla forms an active part of a volcanic crest about 40 km long, with Heklugjá fissure that spans 5.5 km being the most active.

It is said the area around Hekla was once forested and efforts are now on to afforest the region, with Hekluskógar reforestation project taking a lead to bring back the birch and willow woodland to the mountain slopes. The beautiful region is popular for hiking, with waterfalls, valleys and amazing rock formations, besides a Viking farm at Stong.