Hallgrimskirkja

After our long and exciting day tour, we decided to spend the day (after a slow start to get our spirit caught up with us) walking about the city to see what we could see of Reykjavik.



A short walk to the top of a hill took us to Hallgrimskirkja, the Lutheran (Church of Iceland) parish church for Reykjavik. In front of the church is this imposing statue,

of explorer Leif Erikson (c.970 – c.1020) by Alexander Stirling Calder in front of the church predates its construction. It was a gift from the United States in honor of the 1930 Althing Millennial Festival, commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Iceland's parliament at Þingvellir in 930 AD.^[4]

But the real attraction here is the front facade of the church. It looks rather like a rocket with the plume of steam expanding symmetrically on either side as it lifts off.

Inside, in good protestant fashion, we find austerity on a grand scale. If you look closely, at the top of the image you can see a few of the organ pipes that protrude horizontally and at the bottom, there is the altar area of the church.

Walking out into the building and looking back we can see the full pipe organ with its collection of horizontal pipes that gives it somewhat the appearance of a '50's hot rod. The console is on the main floor not far from where I'm standing.

The ceiling is wonderfully symmetry. Perhaps too much so for a really interesting photo.

The altar is downright austere.

The pulpit is similarly simple and to the point.

Near the altar is this smaller organ.

This unusual votive candle stand is one of the few things that "clutter" the vast space (other than the very plain pews).

I found this view from nearly under the organ pipes to really show the size of the instrument.

To give you a notion of the sound from this instrument, here is a brief excerpt from a piece that the organist was practicing.

For a modest fee, I bought a ticket to ride the elevator to the top of the tower on the front of the church and took in the view of the city from there.

Toward the east, the city seems to fill the space all the way to the distant mountains.

While to the west (ish) is the harbor and the mountains on the opposite shore. And you can see that the city is not totally devoid of tall buildings. I suspect the ones you see toward the left side of the photo are apartment buildings.

Another view to the west (looking further to the south of the above shot) shows the ocean. Iceland sits at the junction of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. No matter what you call it, it is cold!

I also liked the way the shadow of the church tower and the long, dark street kind of mirror one another.

As you can see, Reykjavik is just a large small town.

And, in front of the church, the back side of the Erikson statue tells all about why and where it was erected.