Húsavík is a town in Nordurþing municipality on the north coast of Iceland on the shores of Skjálfandi bay with 2,237 inhabitants. The most famous landmark of the town is the wooden church Húsavíkurkirkja, built in 1907. Húsavík is served by Húsavík Airport.
Income is derived from tourism and fishing, as well as retail and small industry. Until recently, Húsavík was the export harbour for silica that was extracted from nearby lake Mývatn.
According to the Landnámabók ("Book of Settlement"), Húsavík was the first place in Iceland to be settled by a Norse man. The Swedish Viking Gardar Svavarsson stayed there for one winter around 870 A.D. When he left the island in spring of 870, after a winter's stay, he left behind a man named Nattfari and two slaves, a man and a woman, and they established a farm here. The name of the town means "bay of houses", probably referring to Gardar's homestead, which may have been the only houses then in Iceland.
Húsavík has become a centre of whale watching in Iceland due to whales of different species that frequently enter the bay. The Húsavík Whale Museum is located in the downtown by the harbour.
In town there is also a civic museum about culture and biology. Among other things, it shows a stuffed polar bear (arrived in Grimsey in 1969) and ancient boats.
Húsavík is also home to The Exploration Museum, located in a building that previously housed the Icelandic Phallological Museum.
The region of Mývatn, with its interesting geology and diverse animal life, is nearby. Jökulsárgljúfur National Park with the horseshoe-shaped canyon Ásbyrgi and the waterfalls Dettifoss, Hafragilsfoss and Selfoss is also not far from the town.
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