Reykjavik's landmark church took 41 years to build, and its swept concrete facade was deliberately shaped to echo the basalt columns and lava flows of the Icelandic landscape.
About Hallgrímskirkja
Commissioned in 1937 and designed by state architect Gudjon Samuelsson, Hallgrimskirkja was under construction from 1945 until 1986, its tower and wings rising slowly over four decades. It is named after the seventeenth-century poet and clergyman Hallgrimur Petursson. The Leif Erikson statue outside arrived in 1930, a gift marking the millennium of the Althing.
Overview Hallgrimskirkja is the Lutheran church that crowns Reykjavik's skyline, its 74.5-metre tower visible from across the city. Architect Gudjon Samuelsson designed the stepped, swept-back concrete facade to echo the basalt columns and flowing lava of the Icelandic landscape. It took 41 years to build, from 1945 to 1986. A lift carries visitors up the tower for the best panorama of the colourful city and the bay beyond.
“Architect Gudjon Samuelsson designed the stepped, swept-back concrete facade to echo the basalt columns and flowing lava of the Icelandic landscape.”
The Front A statue of Leif Erikson, the Norse explorer said to have reached North America centuries before Columbus, stands in front of the church — a 1930 gift from the United States that predates the building itself.
The Experience
The facade reads as a single sweep of pale concrete fanning upward to the tower, unmistakably modelled on stacked basalt. Inside, the nave is austere and bright, with a vast pipe organ. The lift to the tower top delivers the definitive Reykjavik view: rows of brightly painted roofs running down to the harbour and the mountains across the bay.
Why It Matters
Hallgrimskirkja is the architectural symbol of Reykjavik and one of the tallest structures in Iceland, a modern building that translates the country's volcanic geology into form. Its tower viewpoint is the standard orientation point for first-time visitors to the capital.
Why Visit
It is the defining image of Reykjavik and offers the city's best high vantage point for a small fee. Time the tower visit for clear weather and shoot the colourful rooftops in low light; entry to the church itself is free.
Insider Tips
- 1
Pay the small fee for the tower lift — the rooftop panorama of Reykjavik is the main reason to come.
- 2
Entry to the church interior is free; only the tower charges admission.
- 3
Go on a clear day; low cloud erases the view across the bay to the mountains.
- 4
Photograph the painted rooftops from the tower in early or late light for the strongest colour.
