Iceland
Hólmavík
A sleepy fjord village home to a dark history of Icelandic sorcery and witchcraft.
The necropants are behind glass — a pair of trousers reportedly made from human skin, displayed in a small museum in a village so quiet the loudest sound is the wind. Hólmavík in Iceland's Westfjords is where Iceland's history of sorcery and witchcraft is preserved with the same matter-of-fact tone locals use for weather reports.
Hólmavík is home to the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, which documents the 17th-century witch hunts of the Westfjords — a period when 21 people were burned at the stake on charges of magical practice. The museum's centrepiece is a replica of nábrók, or 'necropants' — trousers supposedly made from the skin of a dead man's lower body, worn to generate endless wealth. The display is deliberately unsettling, a tone the museum maintains throughout its exhibits of rune staves, spell books, and trial transcripts. Outside the museum, Hólmavík itself is a small fishing village on the Steingrímsfjörður fjord, gateway to the Strandir coast — one of Iceland's wildest and most sparsely inhabited regions. The contrast between the dark historical content and the sleepy village atmosphere is part of the experience.
Solo
The witchcraft museum is absorbing alone — no distractions from the unsettling detail. Combined with the empty Strandir coast beyond, Hólmavík is a destination for solo travellers drawn to the darker edges of history.
Friends
The necropants, the witch trials, the remote Westfjords setting — Hólmavík provokes conversation and debate. It's the kind of offbeat, slightly macabre stop that friends dare each other to visit.
- The Museum of Icelandic Sorcery & Witchcraft documents the 17th-century witch hunts of the Westfjords.
- The museum's centrepiece is a replica of 'necropants' — trousers supposedly made from human skin.
- A sleepy fishing village atmosphere contrasts sharply with the dark historical content.
- Gateway to the remote Strandir coast, one of Iceland's least visited stretches.
Mussels steamed in garlic and white wine, harvested from the local fjord beds.
Rye bread baked in the ground and served with salted sheep-milk cheese.
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