Journey to the Centre of the Earth · Jules Verne, 1864

Where is the entrance in Journey to the Centre of the Earth?

Snæfells· Iceland

The crater of Snæfellsjökull, at the tip of the Snæfellsnes peninsula. Of its three chimneys, the right one is the one Scartaris' shadow touches.

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For scale
Snæfells in the book: 5,000 feet 1,524 mSnæfellsjökull, real 1,446 mBen Nevis 1,345 m

From the bookReal world

Saknussemm's note in runes says it plainly: go down into the crater of Snæfells, which the shadow of Scartaris touches before the kalends of July, and you will reach the centre of the Earth. Snæfells is Snæfellsjökull, a real volcano under a glacier at the western tip of Iceland.

Verne gives it 5,000 feet. The real mountain is 1,446 m high, so he is close. Scartaris is a peak on the crater's edge. Inside there are three chimneys, and only one is right. For days it's cloudy. On 28 June the sun comes out and the shadow falls on the central one.

The mountain is real, and you can climb it today. The chimney isn't: Snæfellsjökull has no shaft into the Earth. The book made the volcano famous, and it is now part of a national park.

See Snæfells on the map

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