Iceland encyclopedia

Iceland, in detail.

Discover Iceland’s places, stays, food, trails, local experts, and culture.

The landscape of Þingvellir National ParkPhoto from Norse Adventures

Browse by subject

Explore the encyclopedia

Find places, local businesses, and topics to explore.

57 results

Church

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 more
Church

Budakirkja

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.

Read more
History

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.

Read more
Church

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
Museum

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
Theatre

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 more
Event

Total Solar Eclipse 2026

A total solar eclipse crossed western Iceland on 12 August 2026.

Western IcelandRead more
Illustration
Historic Site

Alþingishúsið — Parliament House

Alþingishúsið is Iceland’s stone parliament building beside Austurvöllur, where architecture and national political history meet.

Austurvöllur, Reykjavík, IcelandRead more
Illustration
Museum

Arbaer 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 more
Illustration
History

Battle 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 more
Illustration
Historic Site

Bessastaðir

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 more
Illustration
Art

Eggin í Gleðivík

Eggin í Gleðivík is an outdoor artwork by Sigurður Guðmundsson beside Gleðivík bay in Djúpivogur, East Iceland.

Gleðivík, 765 Djúpivogur, IcelandRead more
Illustration
Saga

Egils 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 more
Illustration
Museum

Einar 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 more
Illustration
Historic Site

Eiriksstadir 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 more
Illustration
Museum

FlyOver Iceland

A flight-simulation attraction in Reykjavík combining panoramic film, motion seats, mist, and scents to showcase Iceland's landscapes.

Read more
Illustration
Church

Fríkirkjan 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 more
Illustration
Folklore

Ghosts

Icelandic ghost stories give the dead unfinished business among the living. Named farms, rivers and churchyards anchor these supernatural narratives in recognisable landscapes.

Read more
Illustration
Museum

Glaumbaer 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 more
Illustration
Saga

Grettis 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 more
Illustration
Folklore

Grýla

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 more
Illustration
Church

Hallgrimskirkja

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 more
Illustration
Folklore

Hidden People

The hidden people inhabit a parallel world in Icelandic legends, often located within hills and rocks familiar to the storyteller.

Read more
Illustration
Historic Site

Höfði 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