Goðafoss

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Goðafoss seen from the Eastern bank
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Goðafoss seen from the Eastern bank
Goðafoss in Winter
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Goðafoss in Winter

The Goðafoss (roughly God's falls) is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in Iceland. It is located in the Mývatn district of North-Central Iceland at the beginning of Sprengisandur Highland road. The water of the river Skjálfandafljót falls from a height of 12 m over a width of 30 m.

In 1000 A.D., at the meeting of the Althing, the Icelanders voted to adopt Christianity. The wooden idols of the Norse mythology were thrown into the falls in a symbolic gesture that swept away the old religion. Thus the Goðafoss literally means the "Waterfall of the Gods." A window in the Cathedral of Akureyri (Akureyrarkirkja) illustrates this story.

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