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Vogastapi Headland

Region: Reykjanes
Coordinates: 63.9667° N 22.3667° W

About Vogastapi

Headland Vogastapi (80 m) carried different names in the past, such as Kviguvogabjarg and Kviguvogastapi and nowadays the name is often abbreviated to Stapi (meaning: headland). Its highest point is called Grimsholl, which offers excellent panoramic views on a fine day and the Touring Club of Keflavik built a view dial up there a few decades ago. The main garbage dumps of the NATO Base were at the foot of the headland for a long time and many Icelanders found precious and usable things there in the past, especially during the difficult years after the Second World War.

Sagas of IcelandThe main road between Keflavik and the capital area passes across the southern slopes of Stapi and still nowadays some of the people driving through the area feel and even encounter the ghost, which has been roaming about there for centuries. In the past some of the travellers lost their way on Stapi or even walked off the edge and were killed. After the building of the road, many drivers have claimed to see a man walking about with his head under his arm, others have picked up a hitchhiker, talked to him on the way, and suddenly he was gone from the cars.

Just off the headland are the good fishing grounds Gullkista (Gold Chest) and according to a legend the seawater has an easy access through a tunnel all the way from there to Grindavik. A few fishing outfits were in the proximity of those fishing grounds in the past, when open rowboats were used for the fisheries. Most of the their ruins are gradually disappearing. One of them was on an islet just off the coast and gradually grew to become one of the largest fishing companies of the country, located in the town Akranes nowadays.

The US Army built a hospital, a communication station and a few observation bunkers on Stapi during the Second World War. The hospital burned down shortly after the war, but the walls of the communication station are still standing.

Vogastapi in Icelandic

Photo Credit: reykjanes,is

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