Þingeyrakirkja

Þingeyrakirkja is a striking Romanesque-revival stone church completed in 1877, built on the site of Iceland’s first Benedictine monastery, founded in 1133. It stands on a low promontory beside the tidal lagoon of Hóp in North Iceland, its pale stone bulk a surprising and grand presence in the flat agricultural landscape.

The interior is richly decorated with painted wooden vaulting, a carved Renaissance-style altarpiece, and alabaster figures brought from Nottingham, England, in the fifteenth century. The church has extraordinary historical resonance: the monastery here was a major centre of saga writing in medieval Iceland, and it is believed that key sagas including Njáls Saga may have been compiled by monks at Þingeyrr.

Þingeyrakirkja is reached via a side road off Route 1 on the south shore of Hóp, about forty kilometres west of Blönduós. Access to the grounds is free year-round; the interior is open during summer (typically June–August). Check locally for service times.