Víkingaheimar
Vikingaheimar is the home of the Viking Ship Íslendingur (the Icelander). Built in 1996, Icelander is an exact replica of the famous Gokstad ship, a remarkable archaeological find of an almost completely intact Viking ship, excavated in Norway in 1882.
Vikingaheimar is also a home of a portion of the Viking millennium exhibition produced by the Smithsonian Institution Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga. This exhibition sheds light into the Norse settlement and explorations of unknown lands.
Building Icelander was an extraordinary achievement; at 23 metres long, 5.25 meters wide and with a holding capacity of 80 tons (by modern standards), it took 2 years of effort. The sail is 130 square meters and the mast is 18 meters in length. Made from pine and oak, scholars believe this was the most common type of ship in use during the Viking Age.
Gunnar Marel and his crew of 8 left Iceland on Icelandic Independence day, the 17th of June, with a send off from the Prime Minister of Iceland. When it finally arrived in New York on October 5th-where it was greeted by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mayor Rudolf Guiliani the ship had made stops at 22 harbors. In addition to the festivities with kings, queens, presidents and mayors, when the ship arrived, visitors also streamed to see it while it was docked at each location, all told about 450,000 people came on board.
For more information visit vikingaheimar.is