Fríkirkjan í Reykjavík

Out and about in Reykjavik, I thought I'd bring you a little of the city, just to give you a feel for that the place is like.



There are colorful buildings and the occasional graffitti just like other cities.

But, not far from the center of town is the parliament building and behind it is a large pond. This part has lots of swans and ducks enjoying the bright sunshine.

As you move away from the swany/ducky end, it is frozen over. The group on the right is just finish a soccer skirmish. On ice. I walked out on it myself just to be able to say I did. (There, I said it.) I've never walked on ice before. Well, not ice that is on top of water anyway.

On the edge of the pond, next to the National Gallery of Iceland is this Lutheran church consecrated in 1903. Seems very plain and functional from the outside.

The inside, while not on the same level as St. Stephen's in Budapest, is quite nicely done. For a small church, the organ is pretty impressive.

The candles and incandescent lights in the altar area give it a very warm, orange-y glow that really sets it off from the rest of the space.

The simple symmetries of the lights is quite pleasing. These light fixtures must have been on sale at some point. We've seen basically the same lights in the Synagogue in Budapest and churches everywhere. That salesman must have made a fortune.

In fact, this space looks a lot like the Dohány Street Synagogue with the balcony and light fixtures.

But the paint, lights, and candles really give this altar a totally different look. I like the way everything is one color palette and the stone relief in the front is completely different.

I also found it curious that the front three row of pews have doors on them. Perhaps this is protect the hoi polloi from the unwashed masses in the un-doored pews behind them.