Journey to the Center of the Earth (Iceland)

The famous Journey to the Center of the Earth imagined by Jules Verne begins in Iceland within the Snæfellsjökull crater. It is an encrypted message from a 16th-century Icelandic alchemist that shows the way : “Descend, bold traveller, into the crater of the jokul of Sneffels, which the shadow of Scartaris touches before the kalends of July, and you will attain the centre of the earth; which I have done, Arne Saknussemm.” Once arrived at the top of the volcano, Professor Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel and their Icelandic guide enter the central chimney determined to reach the centre of the earth. After a long journey throughout the underground world, the three explorers go out at the other end of Europe, in a chimney of the erupting Stromboli. While the adventure takes place in natural and volcanic caves, with the Journey to the Center of the Earth, Jules Verne perpetuates the myth of long distance tunnel, a myth that is always very present in contemporary collective imagination.

Hidden in clouds

Sun and shadow

Crevasse

Stratovolcano

Lava tubes

Midnight sun