Hallgrímskirkja in Reykjavík, Iceland. Author Dmitry Brant. Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Facts about Hallgrímskirkja


 

Hallgrímskirkja is a Lutheran church, located on top of the Skólavörðuhæð hill in the center of Reykjavík. At 74.5 meters (245 feet) tall. It is the largest church in Iceland, and its tower offers a spectacular panoramic view of the city.

Hallgrímskirkja was considered the tallest building in Reykjavík until recently. However, Reykjavík’s new tallest structure, the Smáratorg Tower, is in fact only 3.1m (10.1 ft.) taller than the church.

1. The tallest building in Reykjavík

Standing at 74.5 meters tall Hallgrímskirkja is the tallest building in Reykjavík, and the second highest building in Iceland, and the sixth highest structure in Iceland.

The tallest building in Iceland is an office tower by the Smáralind shopping center in the suburban municipality of Kópavogur, south of Reykjavík.

2. It took 41 years to build

Hallgrímskirkja was designed by the State Architect of Iceland, Guðjón Samuelsson in 1937, after years of discussion about where to build a church.

However, the war delayed the start of construction, which only began in 1945. Work proceeded slowly, as the church was a monumental undertaking.

The crypt beneath the choir was constructed first, being consecrated in 1948. The steeple and the wings were then consecrated in 1974, while the construction of the nave was only completed in 1986.

3. Its design is inspired by Icelandic nature

It was designed by Guðjón Samuelsson. This architect also designed several other important buildings in Reykjavík, including the National Theatre by Hverfisgata, the main building of the University of Iceland, as well as the Roman Catholic cathedral in Reykjavík.

Guðjón’s work was influenced by the Scandinavian Modernism, known as Functionalism. He also sought inspiration into natural shapes and forms, as he was seeking a distinctive style of “Icelandic architecture”, an architecture in harmony with Icelandic landscape.

Many of the works carry strong references to Icelandic nature, particularly the basalt columns formed when a thick lava flow cools slowly into a polygonal joint pattern. The wings and the steeple of Hallgrímskirkja therefore look like cliffs of basalt columns.

4. Hallgrímskirkja Was To Be A Giant Neo-Classical Square

According to Guðjón Samúelsson’s earliest drawings for Skólavörðuholt, it was to be the site of a giant neo-classical square, surrounded by the University of Iceland and other institutions of higher learning and the arts, with a large square cathedral standing in the middle.

 The design, which bears striking similarities to the Senate square in downtown Helsinki, would have been the center of cultural life in Reykjavík, and Iceland: “A Citadel of Icelandic Culture”, as Samúelsson put it.

Nothing ever came of this grand citadel. The area around Hallgrímskirkja wasn’t even properly paved until the late 1990s.

5. It’s Construction Was Criticized

Icelanders like nothing better than to argue about buildings, construction or zoning. Any big construction project in Iceland therefore has the potential to turn into a nation-wide argument. Hallgrímskirkja is no exception.

Not only did the construction of Hallgrímskirkja take a long time (41 years), incurring significant cost overruns, but it had not even been completed when major repairs had to be made to the steeple in 1983. It turned out the concrete had been defective, with serious fracturing and crumbling of the top of the steeple. This, and the excessive costs, caused some frustration.

But what most of the critics focused on was that they felt the building was just plain ugly. These critics argued the church was both obscenely big and “so ugly it insulted the aesthetic sensibilities of those alive and unborn alike”, to quote one prominent critic.

6. Hallgrímskirkja Is Considered One Of The Worlds Strangest And Most Beautiful Houses Of Worship

In 2012, the Danish newspaper Politiken named it one of the ten strangest, or “most unbelievable” churches in the world, and in 2014 it was voted as one of the strangest buildings in the world on the webpage Strange Buildings, while 4,520 visitors of the website Boredpanda voted it as one of the world’s 33 strangest buildings, ranking it as the 24th strangest.

Most, of course, see beauty in the strangeness and in October 2015 Hallgrímskirkja was picked as one of 19 most beautiful houses of worship in the world by the Architectural Digest, one of the oldest magazines in America dedicated to interior design and architecture.

7. It is not the cathedral of Reykjavík

Given its size and commanding presence many foreign visitors, and even some locals, assume it must be the cathedral of Reykjavík. But technically it’s not. It’s just a very large church.

 The Passion Hymns are a collection of fifty hymns, one for each working day of the seven weeks of Lent. The singing of the hymns during lent is a time honored tradition in Iceland.

The actual cathedral church of Reykjavík is located downtown, right across the street from the house of parliament.

8. It Was Constructed Through The Effort Of Icelandic Parliament

The church was commissioned in 1937. It was an effort by the Icelandic Parliament that Hallgrímskirkja was finally built. however, as rules were announced in 1929 by the parliament specifically stating it should seat 1,200 people and have a high tower so it would be able to transmit radio signals.

Its final construction was done in 1986, a day before Hallgrímur Pétursson’s death, but Guðjón Samúelsson never got to see it completed as he passed away in 1950. Design.

9.It Was Named After Hallgrímur Pétursson

Hallgrímskirkja was named after the 17th-century clergyman and renowned poet, Hallgrímur Pétursson, author of the Hymns of the Passion.

Facing the church is a big statue of Viking explorer Leifur Eiríksson, said to be the first European to land in America. It was a present from the US to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of the Icelandic parliament, Alþingi (Althing), in 1930.

10. It Was Designed To Resemble The Icelandic Landscape

The church was designed to resemble the Icelandic landscape and remind the viewer of the country’s magnificent glaciers and mountains. The columns on the sides of the tower represent volcanic basalt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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