Many people over the course of time have found themselves marooned on a remote island, quite often as a result of a shipwreck.
Perhaps the most famous literary character that suffered such a fate was Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.
Crusoe spent 26 years cast away on an island in the Caribbean, surviving multiple adventures at the hands of cannibals.
Defoe’s story was based on Alexander Selkirk, who lived almost four years on Juan Fernandez Island off the coast of Chile before being rescued in 1709.
Today, anyone looking for solitude and an escape from civilisation may be attracted to a small island off the coast of Iceland.
Elliðaey is part of the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago, a group of 18 islands with a total population of 4,414.
It is unpopulated, but a property has been built right in the middle of it that has been described as the world’s “loneliest house”.
The house has been abandoned for years and is shrouded in mystery, capturing the public’s imagination and spawning some outlandish theories.
Some believe the property was intended as a safe retreat from a zombie apocalypse, while others say it was used by a religious cult.
There are even those that believe the house belongs to the famous Icelandic pop star Björk, Metro reports.
However, the story behind the house is a little bit more mundane. It was built in the 1950s as an overnight lodge for puffin hunters.
Hunting for puffins is a legal blood sport to this day in both Iceland and the Faroe Islands.
A YouTuber has provided an enticing glimpse into the spartan interior of the lodge, after bravely accessing the island.
Ryan Trahan travelled out to the remote island in 2021 after taking numerous boats and braving rough seas and thick fog.
The intrepid traveller then had to scramble up a cliff face using just a rope in the inhospitable conditions.
The house has a cabin-type feel to it, with its wooden floor and walls, and log burner. There is no electricity and water has to be collected from rainfall.
Despite its remoteness, the house has welcomed 11,264 people since its construction, according to a visitor’s book.
Elliðaey was once populated by families over 300 years ago. However it was finally abandoned in 1960, as people looked to find their fortune elsewhere.
