Hallgrímskirkja

A concrete church whose stepped form evokes basalt columns, among Reykjavík's tallest buildings.

The church is named after Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674), an Icelandic poet and priest who wrote the Passion Hymns. The state architect Guðjón Samúelsson designed it, and building it took 41 years, from 1945 to 1986. With its tall, stepped front that looks like a wall of stone columns, the church has become a symbol of Iceland, and visitors can ride a lift up the tower for a view over the whole city.

A design inspired by nature

Guðjón Samúelsson received the job in 1937. He is said to have shaped the church to remind people of Iceland's landscape: its mountains, glaciers and especially columns of basalt, a dark volcanic rock that forms natural pillars sometimes called organ pipes, like the ones around the waterfall Svartifoss. The church has three parts. At the front is the tower with stepped side wings that rise like organ pipes. Behind it is a long hall called the nave, and at the far end is a round section that some people say looks like a Viking helmet.

How it was built

Construction started in 1945 and moved forward in stages. The crypt, a room under the choir, was ready for worship in 1948. The tall tower and its wings were finished in 1974, but the nave was not completed until 1986, and the church was consecrated, or officially opened, in October that year. The church leaders wanted a big spire, partly so that it would stand taller than Reykjavík's Catholic cathedral. While it was being built, some people criticised it as old-fashioned or as a mix of too many styles.

Inside and on top

The church has a huge pipe organ made by the German builder Johannes Klais and finished in December 1992. It is 15 metres tall, weighs 25 tonnes and has 5,275 pipes. The tower holds 29 bells that can be played from a keyboard; the three biggest are named after Hallgrímur, his wife and their daughter. Visitors can take a lift to a viewing deck in the tower to look out over the roofs of Reykjavík and the mountains around it.

On the globe

The model shows the concrete church in Reykjavík whose stepped front looks like basalt columns. Zoom in to see how the wings climb up step by step towards the tall central tower.