A volcano inside a hall in Reykjavik.. with its lava, glow and heat

In a unique experience in the world, visitors can get close to a real magma flow in an exhibition hall in the center of the Icelandic capital, as if they were in the presence of an actual volcano.

In the middle of the hall, which resembles a movie theater, a structure lined with basalt columns was erected, reminiscent of those on the famous Reynisfjara Beach in southern Iceland, known for its black sand.

On the retractable seats, about 40 visitors, the vast majority of them tourists, were seated.

"It's a show where you experience real molten lava deliberately flowing into a building," says Scottish presenter Ian McKinnon.

After a glimpse for a few minutes about the origins of the project and the Icelandic volcanology, a documentary film introduces the most important volcanic eruptions since the colonization of the island at the end of the ninth century.

Then comes the long-awaited announcement: "It's been almost 5,000 years since Reykjavík hasn't had lava flows... until now."

Then the glowing lava flows down a steel slope surrounded by black sand, illuminating the hall as if the sun rose in it, and becoming an oven, forcing the spectators to take off their jackets.

At the end of the slope, the molten liquid sizzles as it rubs against blocks of ice and rises from it as it cools with a sound similar to the sound of broken glass.

"It was really beautiful," Australian 28-year-old Jasmine Long told AFP.

"I understand why many people are attracted to a volcanic eruption, but in reality it is impossible to approach it in a normal natural environment, when it is much safer here," she added.

If hundreds of thousands of curious people were able to witness the enchanting spectacle of lava flows around Mount Vagradalsfjall last August and the previous year about 40 kilometers from Reykjavik, not all Icelandic eruptions are of this non-violent nature.

Although the distinctive smell of lava is present in the show, its repeated heating loses its poisonous gases, allowing the audience to get closer to it than they would if it were real.

"People who go to the site of a volcanic eruption are amazed when they get to the site and discover the landscape for the first time," McKinnon noted.

"We have the same feelings here," he added.

In order for real lava to flow into the chamber, about 600 kilograms of tephra were used, which are fragments of rock that a volcano erupts during its eruption.

These fragments were collected near Katla, one of the most dangerous volcanoes in Iceland, and the last time this volcano in the south erupted was in 1918.

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