Tyrkjaránsganga

		A - B
3-4 hrs.	480 m	12 km

The walk begins in Ræningjatangi and from there the route leads to all the main places in the Westman Islands where historical events took place in Tyrkjaránið in 1627. You can see a map of the walk below the description.

1. Ræningjatangi

Ræningjatangi is a tang that stands east of Brimurður on Heimaey. Tanginn takes its name from the pirates who came to the Westman Islands in Tyrkjaránið in 1627, where it is said that the pirates came ashore. They did not consider it advisable to sail into the harbor as there were preparations at Skansinn and manned cannons. 

2. Litlhöfði

Litlhöfði is south of Kervíkurfjall. It was formed over 5000 years ago when an eruption occurred in Stakkabótargígur.

3. Lyngfellisdalur

In Lyngfellisdalur, the pirates in Tyrkjaránið are said to have set up shop and dried their weapons and clothes before going to settlements.

4. Ofanleiti

At Ofanleiti there was previously a town called Kirkjubær, where a rectory operated until 1837. In Tyrkjaránið, the priest at Kirkjubær was priest Jón Þorsteinsson, but it is famous that he hid from the pirates in Rauðahellur in Urður, along with his relatives and others. Jón was beheaded, and his people were taken to Algiers and they never returned to Iceland.

5. Hundraðmannahellir

It is said that a hundred people hid in Hundraðmannahellir when the pirates from Algiers raided the islands in 1627 during Tyrkjaránið. The group was found, however, because a dog was snooping outside. To find the cave, people could use a target, as is the case with fishing grounds. The ticket is: Hanahöfuð in Halldórsskora and Hásteinn in Dönskutó.

6. Fiskhellar

During Tyrkjaránið of 1627, people sought refuge from the pirates in caves and boats in Fiskhellar. Men took their wives and children up there, probably on Þorlaugargerðishilla where Þorlaugargerðisbændur had their fish stocks but that shelf is very high in the rock. It is said that some of the women's skirts on the shelf hung out and that there were 18 bullet holes in one woman's skirt but she was not accused. 

7. Sængurkonusteinn

Legend has it that two pirates Tyrkjaránið of 1627 came across a woman who had just given birth to a child at Sængurkonusteinn . One of the pirates wanted to kill the child and take the woman away, but the other forbade it and gave the woman part of his robe to wrap around the child and he gave them life.

8. Prestasteinn

It is said that the priests of the Islanders at the time of Tyrkjaránið, priest Jón Þorsteinsson in Kirkjubær and priest Ólafur Egilsson in Ofanleiti, maintained the old habbit after mass to go together to Prestasteinn and say goodbye there. Those ancient friends and colleagues, priest Jón and priest Ólafur, have probably said there last goodbye on Sunday 15 July 1627.

9. Minnismerki Jóns Þorsteinssonar

Jón Þorsteinsson was a parish priest at Kirkjubær from 1607 until his death in 1627. Jón's death was probably the event that gave him the greatest fame. He died on July 18, 1627, when he was beheaded by Algerian pirates in Tyrkjaránið. He has since been called Jón Píslarvottur, but Jón's tombstone was rebuilt on the lava after the eruption.

10. Stakkagerðistún

At Stakkagerðistúni you can see a sculpture in memory of Guðríður Símonardóttir from Stakkagerði who was abducted in Tyrkjaránið 1627 and sold into slavery in Algeria. She was one of the few Icelanders who were bought by the Danish king in 1636. On her way back to Iceland, she spent the winter of 1636-1637 in Copenhagen, where she and other Icelanders received education in Christian studies and a review in their mother tongue. Hallgrímur Pétursson took care of that teaching. It so happened that they fell in love and Hallgrímur followed her to Iceland. Hallgrímur Pétursson later became one of the greatest Icelandic psalmists.

11. Skansinn

After Tyrkjaránið, the Islanders feared another invasion, so a Danish military trainer was hired to oversee the defense from Skansinn . Cannons, which can be seen on Skansinn, were used in the exercises of the Vestmannaeyjar regiment and he also organized surveillance from Helgafell in order to monitor the movements of ships.  

You are at your own risk.

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