Hallgrímskirkja (, ''Church of Hallgrímur'') is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

(

Church of Iceland The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland ( is, Hin evangelíska lúterska kirkja), also called the National Church ( is, Þjóðkirkjan), is the officially established Christian church in Iceland. The church professes the Lutheran faith an ...

) parish church in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

, Iceland. At tall, it is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in the country. Known for its distinctively curved spire and side wings, it has been described as having become an important symbol for Iceland's national identity since its completion in 1986 The church is named after the Icelandic poet and cleric

Hallgrímur Pétursson Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614 – 27 October 1674) was an Icelandic poet and a minister at Hvalsneskirkja and Saurbær in Hvalfjörður. Being one of the most prominent Icelandic poets, the Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavík and the Hallgrímskirkja ...

(1614–1674), author of the

Passion Hymns The ''Passíusálmar'' or ''Passion Hymns'' are a collection of 50 poetic texts written by the Icelandic minister and poet, Hallgrímur Pétursson. The texts explore the Passion narrative, as traditionally presented, from the point where Chri ...

Description

Situated on the hilltop Skólavörðuholt near the centre of Reykjavík, the church is one of the city's best-known landmarks and is visible throughout the city. State Architect

Guðjón Samúelsson Guðjón Samúelsson (16 April 1887 – 25 April 1950) was a State Architect of Iceland, and the first Icelander to be educated in architecture. He's been described as one of Iceland's most influential architects. His notable designs include the ...

's design of the church was commissioned in 1937. He is said to have designed it to resemble the

trap rock Trap rock, also known as either trapp or trap, is any dark-colored, fine-grained, non-granitic intrusive or extrusive igneous rock. Types of trap rock include basalt, peridotite, diabase, and gabbro.Neuendorf, K.K.E., J.P. Mehl, Jr., and J.A. ...

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

s and

glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

s of Iceland's landscape, in particular its

columnar basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% o ...

"organ pipe" formations (such as those at Svartifoss). The design is similar in style to the

expressionist architecture Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts that especially developed and dominated in Germany. Brick Expressionis ...

of Grundtvig's Church of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark, completed in 1940, which has been described as a likely influence, alongside the expressionist

Kirche am Hohenzollernplatz Kirche am Hohenzollernplatz (''Church at Hohenzollernplatz '') is the church of the Evangelical Congregation at Hohenzollernplatz, a member of today's Protestant umbrella Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia. The churc ...

in Berlin, Germany (completed in 1933). Architecturally, Hallgrímskirkja consists of three parts: The tower with the distinctly curved side wings which house service facilities, a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

in more traditional architecture, and a sanctuary at the other end of the nave, whose cylindrical shape has been described as evoking Viking war helmets. Hallgrímskirkja also has a 244 ft (74.37 meters) dome. Hallgrímskirkja is best described as a piece of Expressionist architecture because of its tower like exterior, its rejection of traditional styles and its dynamic design. It was heavily influenced by another building, Grundtvigskirken. Like Hallgrímskirkja, Grundtvigskirken, has an organ-like appearance. It took 41 years to build the church: construction started in 1945 and ended in 1986, but the landmark tower was completed long before the whole church was finished. The crypt beneath the choir was consecrated in 1948, the

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...

and wings were completed in 1974, and the

was consecrated in 1986. At the time of construction, the building was criticized as too old-fashioned and as a blend of different architectural styles. The church was originally intended to be less tall, but the leaders of the Church of Iceland wanted a large spire so as to outshine Landakotskirkja (Landakot's Church), which was the cathedral of the

Catholic Church in Iceland The Catholic Church in Iceland is part of the Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope. The island comprises a single diocese, the Diocese of Reykjavík. , the ordinary is Bishop Dávid Bartimej Tencer. The diocese is not part ...

. The interior is . The church houses two large

pipe organs The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...

. The first, a Rieger-Kloss organ was installed in 1946. It was moved to the South Wing when it opened and a new organ was built. The next pipe organ was commissioned from Frobenius in 1985. Soon after, in 1988 the church council decided that the Frobenius pipe organ wasn't big enough and commissioned another from the German organ builder Johannes Klais of

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

. It has electronic action; the pipes are remote from the four manuals and

pedal A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...

console. There are 102 ranks, 72 stops and 5275 pipes. It is tall and weighs . Its construction was finished in December 1992.

Einar Jónsson Einar Jónsson (11 May 1874 – 18 October 1954) was an Icelandic sculptor, born in ''Galtafell'', a farm in southern Iceland. Biography At a young age Einar proved himself to be an unusual child with an artistic bent. At that time there was li ...

donated the statue of Jesus to the church in 1948, which stands right next to the entrance to the nave. Jesus receives the Holy Spirit after being baptized in the Jordan. The church is also used as an

observation tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...

. An observer can take a lift up to the viewing deck and view Reykjavík and the surrounding mountains. The statue of explorer

Leif Erikson Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have set foot on continental Nort ...

(c.970 – c.1020) by

Alexander Stirling Calder Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of sculptor Alexander (Sandy) Calder. His best-known works are ''George Washi ...

in front of the church predates its construction. It was a gift from the United States in honor of the 1930

Althing The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (" thing fields" or "assemb ...

Millennial Festival, commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the convening of Iceland's

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

Þingvellir Þingvellir (, anglicised as ThingvellirThe spelling ''Pingvellir'' is sometimes seen, although the letter "p" is unrelated to the letter "þ" (thorn), which is pronounced as "th".) was the site of the Alþing, the annual parliament of Iceland ...

in 930 AD.

Gallery

File:View from the top of Hallgrímskirkja.JPG, View north from the top of Hallgrímskirkja File:Last Christmas (3160371678).jpg,

Chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

of Hallgrimskirkja File:Hallgrímskirkja at night.jpg, Hallgrímskirkja at night File:Interior of Hallgrímskirkja Church.jpg,

Nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of Hallgrimskirkja File:Hallgrímskirja Pipe Organ.jpg, The pipe organ File:Hallgrímskirkja Front Door.jpg, Main door File:201708 Hallgrímskirkja b34.jpg, Sanctuary File:Reykjavik-38-Hallgrimskirche-Orgel-Organist Solbergsson-2018-gje.jpg, Jesus statue and the Organ with Organist Solbergsson (2018) File:Iceland Images for April 2016 03.JPG, Side view of Hallgrímskirkja at night

References

External links

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Hallgrímskirkja on the Icelandic Church Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallgrimskirkja Towers in Iceland Churches completed in 1986 Churches in Reykjavík Art Deco architecture Terminating vistas Tourist attractions in Reykjavík Expressionist architecture