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Akureyrarkirkja
Akureyrarkirkja is the Lutheran church above Akureyri's town centre, distinguished by its paired, stepped towers. Designed by Guðjón Samúelsson, it is a major landmark of twentieth-century Icelandic church architecture.
Eyrarlandsvegur, AkureyriRead moreBudakirkja
Búðakirkja is the small black timber church at Búðir on Snæfellsnes. Its nineteenth-century fabric and the story of its reconstruction connect a familiar landscape landmark with local religious and architectural history.
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Icelandic Knitting and the Lopapeysa
The lopapeysa is an Icelandic wool sweater recognised for its patterned circular yoke. Its familiar form developed during the twentieth century through household knitting, industrial wool processing and exchanges of design ideas.
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Landakotskirkja
Landakotskirkja, the Cathedral of Christ the King, is Reykjavík's Roman Catholic cathedral. Consecrated on 23 July 1929, it links Gothic architectural forms with Guðjón Samúelsson's interest in Icelandic landscapes.
Landakot, ReykjavíkRead more
National Gallery of Iceland
The National Gallery of Iceland, Listasafn Íslands, preserves and interprets Icelandic visual art from the nineteenth century onwards. Its collection includes painting, sculpture, photography, prints and newer media, alongside work by international artists.
Fríkirkjuvegur 7, ReykjavíkRead more
National Theatre of Iceland
The National Theatre of Iceland, Þjóðleikhúsið, opened in Reykjavík in 1950. Its distinctive building joins the history of professional theatre with architectural imagery drawn from Icelandic rock formations and folklore.
Hverfisgata 19, ReykjavíkRead moreTotal Solar Eclipse 2026
A total solar eclipse crossed western Iceland on 12 August 2026.
Western IcelandRead moreAlþingishúsið — Parliament House
Alþingishúsið is Iceland’s stone parliament building beside Austurvöllur, where architecture and national political history meet.
Austurvöllur, Reykjavík, IcelandRead moreArbaer Open Air Museum
Árbær Open Air Museum preserves buildings and everyday histories from Reykjavík's transformation into a city. Its assembled streets place domestic life and craftsmanship alongside the older farm around which the museum developed.
Kistuhylur 4, 110 ReykjavikRead moreBattle of Orlygsstadir
A 1238 Sturlung Age clash in North Iceland where church-allied forces defeated the Sturlungar; remembered as the island's largest medieval battle.
Read moreBessastaðir
Bessastaðir on Álftanes is the official residence of Iceland's president. Its buildings and archaeological remains connect the modern presidency with a much longer history of royal administration, education and farming.
Álftanes, GarðabærRead moreEggin í Gleðivík
Eggin í Gleðivík is an outdoor artwork by Sigurður Guðmundsson beside Gleðivík bay in Djúpivogur, East Iceland.
Gleðivík, 765 Djúpivogur, IcelandRead moreEgils saga
Egils saga follows the family of Egill Skallagrímsson, a poet and formidable fighter whose story moves between Iceland, Norway and England. Its prose narrative repeatedly gives way to verse.
Read moreEinar Jónsson Museum
The Einar Jónsson Museum brings together the sculptor’s work, his former home and a garden of bronze casts on Skólavörðuholt.
Hallgrímstorg 3, 101 ReykjavíkRead moreEiriksstadir Viking Longhouse
Eiríksstaðir in Haukadalur brings together excavated Viking Age farm remains and a modern longhouse reconstruction. Its traditional association with Eiríkur the Red and Leifur Eiríksson connects archaeology with the Greenland and Vinland narratives.
Haukadalur, West IcelandRead moreFlyOver Iceland
A flight-simulation attraction in Reykjavík combining panoramic film, motion seats, mist, and scents to showcase Iceland's landscapes.
Read moreFríkirkjan í Reykjavík
Fríkirkjan í Reykjavík is the Free Church beside Tjörnin, built for an independent Lutheran congregation founded in 1899. Its timber construction and successive extensions make it a distinctive example of Reykjavík's early urban churches.
Fríkirkjuvegur 5, ReykjavíkRead moreGhosts
Icelandic ghost stories give the dead unfinished business among the living. Named farms, rivers and churchyards anchor these supernatural narratives in recognisable landscapes.
Read moreGlaumbaer Turf Farm
Glaumbær is a preserved turf farmhouse in Skagafjörður and part of the National Museum of Iceland's historic building collection. Its interconnected rooms reveal how materials, household work and repeated rebuilding shaped a substantial rural home.
Skagafjordur, IcelandRead moreGrettis saga
Grettis saga tells of Grettir Ásmundarson, an extraordinarily strong man whose achievements fail to secure a place within society. Outlawry, supernatural encounters and bleak humour shape his story.
Read moreGrýla
Grýla is a fearsome female troll in Icelandic folklore, now closely associated with Christmas and the Yule Lads. Her literary history is older than that Christmas role.
Read moreHallgrimskirkja
Hallgrímskirkja is a Lutheran parish church and national memorial in central Reykjavík, dedicated to the hymn poet Hallgrímur Pétursson. Its tower and stepped exterior make it a prominent feature of the city skyline.
Hallgrimstorg 1, 101 ReykjavikRead moreHidden People
The hidden people inhabit a parallel world in Icelandic legends, often located within hills and rocks familiar to the storyteller.
Read moreHöfði House
Höfði is a historic Reykjavík house best known as the setting for the 1986 meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.
Borgartún 1, 105 ReykjavíkRead more