Description of the attraction
Hallgrimskirkja, a huge Lutheran church in the center of Reykjavik, is named after the 17th century Icelandic poet and priest Hallgrimur Pieturson, author of the beloved Icelanders of the Psalms of the Passion, many poems and religious hymns.
The idea of building a church for 1200 people, with a tower of 75 meters in height, was supported by Althing back in 1929. Its project was developed in 1937 by the most respected architect of Iceland, Goodyoun Samuelson.
Construction began in 1945 and ended in 1986. The reason for this long-term construction was not only financial difficulties, but also the disagreement of the townspeople with the appearance of the future church. Therefore, all these years it has been changed and refined under public pressure. As a result of the joint efforts of architects and citizens of the city, the church acquired its present form.
What is Hallgrimskirkja like? Of course, to Iceland itself, the land of ice and fire, to the mountains wrapped in glaciers from peaks to foothills, to a boiling geyser that suddenly escaped from the depths of the earth, striving with all its might to soar into the sky as high as possible. And inside is a huge ice cave with vaulted ceilings going high up. But the light that reigns around, golden and soft, brings a feeling of warmth. And even the pipes of the largest organ in Iceland resemble the basalt columns of the Svartifoss waterfall.
On the square in front of Hallgrimskirkja, there is a statue of Leyva the Blessed, donated to Iceland by the United States in 1930 for the millennium anniversary of Althing. Leyva, the son of Eirik the Red, is revered by many as the discoverer of America, who reached its shores five centuries before Columbus. Lave took this place long before the construction of the church began, but now it looks very harmonious against its background.
