Þingvallakirkja and Þingvallabær

Þingvallakirkja is the small white church on the old assembly plain at Þingvellir National Park, the first stop on the Golden Circle, and Þingvallabær is the row of white gables beside it. The church was built in 1859 on a spot where churches have stood since 1017. The farmhouse, first built in 1930, is now the prime minister's official summer residence.

Most people see them from the Hakið platform as two white shapes by the river and never walk over. That is a pity, and mostly a matter of time: coach stops rarely allow for it, while a private Golden Circle day by Tesla lets you fit it in. The church holds a pulpit older than the United States, a bell rung for Iceland's independence and an altarpiece that went to the Isle of Wight and came back, and two of Iceland's best-loved poets are buried in the plot behind it.

Þingvallakirkja: the church at Þingvellir

Þingvallakirkja is a small Lutheran church, timber-built with a dark roof and a short bell tower, standing on the eastern bank of the Öxará within the historic assembly site. It belongs to the Church of Iceland, and the priest who serves it works from Skálholt, the former cathedral seat of southern Iceland.

The present building went up in 1858 under the Rev. Símon Beck and was consecrated on Christmas Day 1859. The tower is younger: it was added in 1907, in time for the visit of King Frederik VIII of Denmark, and the date is written on its weather vane.

A church on this site since 1017

Iceland adopted Christianity at the Alþing in the year 1000, and a church followed at Þingvellir soon afterwards. The sagas say King Ólafur Haraldsson of Norway sent timber and a bell, and the first church is traditionally dated to 1017. It was probably a fairly large building, because it had a job to do.

Under Grágás, the law code of the Commonwealth, the Law Council could meet in the church when the weather made meeting outside impossible. The Alþing opened with a church service, a custom that the modern parliament in Reykjavík still keeps, and church synods were held at Þingvellir until 1799. Several churches have stood on the spot since, all known as Þingvallakirkja, and the 1859 building is the latest of them.

What to see inside Þingvallakirkja

The interior is simple and small, which makes the age of what is in it more striking. When the church is open, look for:

• The pulpit, made in 1683
• An altarpiece painted in 1834 by Ófeigur Jónsson, a local farmer
• A second altarpiece by the Danish painter Anker Lund, acquired in 1896, which hangs alongside the first
• The baptismal font, carved by local farmer Guðmann Ólafsson and given in 1962

The Ófeigur Jónsson altarpiece has the best story. In 1899 the British artist Disney Leith bought it and gave it to her own church on the Isle of Wight. It eventually came back into the church's ownership and was rededicated in 1974, and today both altarpieces are in use.

The three bells of Þingvallakirkja

The tower holds three bells. One is ancient, and another was given by Bishop Jón Vídalín when he was ordained at the end of the 1690s. The third and largest, often called Íslandsklukka, was made to ring in Iceland's independence on 17 June 1944, when the republic was declared a short walk away at Lögberg. Our page on Lögberg and the 1944 declaration tells that part of the story.

The poets' graves behind the church

Behind the church, a small plot was set aside in the 20th century as a national burial ground. Two poets lie there. Einar Benediktsson, a towering figure of Icelandic poetry who died in 1940, was buried at Þingvellir as a national honour.

Jónas Hallgrímsson took longer to arrive. The 19th-century poet, the most loved of all Icelandic writers, died in Copenhagen in 1845 and was buried there.

In 1946 his remains were dug up and brought home in a dispute known in Icelandic as beinamálið, "the bones affair". A businessman wanted to bury him in his home valley in the north, the government insisted on Þingvellir, and after a week in limbo the coffin was buried here on 16 November, Jónas's birthday. That date is now celebrated as Icelandic Language Day.

Þingvallabær: the prime minister's summer house

The white farmhouse with five gables next to the church is Þingvallabær. It was built in 1930 for the Alþing's millennium, to a design by the state architect Guðjón Samúelsson, with three gables in the traditional Icelandic farmhouse style. For decades it was the home of the national park warden.

Two more gables were added for the 1974 national festival that marked 1,100 years since the settlement of Iceland, according to the Prime Minister's Office history. That extension became the prime minister's official summer residence, and when the warden stopped living on site in 2000, the prime minister's office took over most of the house. The northernmost gable is still used by the park warden and the priest of Þingvallakirkja.

Why the prime minister moved here

The prime minister's earlier summer house at Þingvellir was a different building. Known as Konungshúsið, the King's House, it was a timber house built in 1907 for King Frederik VIII's visit, later moved to a spot near the old Valhöll hotel. On 10 July 1970 it burned down, killing the prime minister, Bjarni Benediktsson, his wife Sigríður Björnsdóttir and their young grandson. A memorial stands at the site, and the new wing at Þingvallabær replaced the house that was lost.

Þingvallabær is an official residence used for meetings and receptions, so it is not open to visitors. You can walk past it on the path to the church, but keep to the path and off the lawns.

Opening hours of Þingvallakirkja

Þingvallakirkja is usually open from 1 June to 31 August, on days when a park ranger can be at the church. Expect a morning and an afternoon opening rather than all-day access; the park's published times vary, so treat them as a guide. Outside summer the church is closed, apart from services held at irregular times.

The national park's Þingvallakirkja page has current details. Weddings and other ceremonies can be booked through the park, which charges 20,000 ISK to cover cleaning and supervision, and the church has its own rules of conduct, adopted in 2019.

In summer the free English ranger walk at 10:00 starts outside the church and lasts about an hour, which is a good way to see inside with someone who can explain it.

How to get to Þingvallakirkja

Þingvallakirkja is inside Þingvellir National Park, about 40 km north-east of Reykjavík on Route 36. Take Route 361 down towards the lake and park at P5 Valhöll, which the park lists as the car park nearest the church. From there, cross the bridge over the Öxará and follow the path along the river; the walk is short and flat.

Parking is 1,000 ISK for a passenger car with five seats or fewer, and one payment covers P1, P2 and P5 for the day. Our overview of Þingvellir National Park covers the other car parks and the visitor centre. You can also walk from the Hakið visitor centre down through Almannagjá, past Lögberg and across the plain, which turns the church into the end point of the classic walk.

How long to spend at the church and farmhouse

Allow 15 to 30 minutes for the church, the graveyard and a look at Þingvallabær from the path. Add the booth ruins of Biskupabúð, the largest ruin at Þingvellir, in the meadow north of the church, and Njálsbúð on the opposite bank of the river, and you have a good half hour of history in a very small area.

Best time to visit Þingvallakirkja

Come between June and August if you want to see inside. Mornings tend to be quieter around the church than the gorge, because most coach groups stay on the Almannagjá side. Outside summer the church is locked, but the setting is still worth the walk, especially with snow on the roofs and the river running dark beside them.

Visiting the church on a Golden Circle day

Most Golden Circle tours spend their Þingvellir stop on the Almannagjá side, and the church is a detour that may not fit a fixed coach schedule. If it matters to you, a private tour lets you set the time at Þingvellir and stop at P5 for the church before or after the gorge. On a coach tour, ask the guide at the start whether there is time to walk over.

Things to do near Þingvallakirkja

The church sits at the eastern edge of the historic area. Peningagjá, the coin-filled fissure, is a few minutes' walk away, and Silfra, where you can snorkel in the rift, is close to the P5 car park. Lögberg and the Almannagjá gorge rise just across the river.

Further afield, Skálholt, where the church's priest is based, was the bishop's seat of southern Iceland for more than seven centuries and makes a good companion stop. Our guide to the Skálholt bishopric site covers what to see there.

Photo: Olga Ernst, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons