Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavík

The great white tower of Hallgrímskirkja stands at the top of Reykjavík’s main hill, visible from almost everywhere in the city. Iceland’s largest church, a Lutheran parish church consecrated in 1986, was designed to recall the columns of basalt that form where lava cools. Inside is a tall, plain white nave and a great organ; above, a lift climbs the tower for the best view over the city’s coloured roofs. The church is free; the tower costs 1,500 ISK.

A church like a mountain

The church is named after Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674), whose Passion Hymns are still much loved in Iceland. The state architect Guðjón Samúelsson began designing it in 1937, and it was his last work: his stepped wings of concrete either side of the tower recall basalt columns, mountains and glaciers. Building began in 1945 and went on for decades, two-thirds of it paid for from church funds and private gifts; the tower and wings were finished in 1974 and the church was consecrated on 26 October 1986, when Reykjavík marked its bicentenary. It celebrated its 40th anniversary in October 2026.

The visitor’s cheat sheet

What to see

Leifur Eiríksson

In front of the church stands the bronze statue of Leifur Eiríksson, the Norse explorer who reached North America around the year 1000. It is by the American sculptor Alexander Stirling Calder, on a granite plinth shaped like the prow of a ship, and was a gift from the United States for the thousandth anniversary of Iceland’s parliament in 1930 — so it is older than the church behind it.

The nave

Inside, the nave is tall, white and almost bare, a Gothic vault built in concrete, lit by long narrow windows. The plainness is the point: it feels like a Lutheran church built from snow. Speak quietly: the nave closes for services, funerals and concerts, sometimes at short notice.

The organ

At the west end, above the entrance, is the great organ built by Johannes Klais of Bonn and inaugurated in 1992. About 15 metres high, with 72 stops and 5,275 pipes, it is the largest organ in Iceland, and much of it was paid for by people who “bought” individual pipes. Listen for it at a Saturday lunchtime concert or in the Organ Summer festival.

The tower

A lift, with tickets from the shop on the left of the entrance, rises to the eighth floor of the tower, where windows look out over the city, the bay and the mountain Esja. A short stair climbs to the top level. The tower also holds three large bells, named after the poet, his wife and their daughter, and a carillon. Expect a queue for the small lift in the middle of the day.

Getting there

The church is at Hallgrímstorg 1, at the top of Skólavörðustígur, the shopping street that climbs from Laugavegur in the city centre; the walk takes ten to fifteen minutes. From Keflavík Airport, the Flybus takes about 45 minutes to the BSÍ terminal, and its hotel transfer stop 8 is beside the church. There is a car park next to the church, but it fills quickly, and parking round the church is being made paid. The Einar Jónsson sculpture garden is next door.

Don’t miss

• The view from the tower Over the coloured roofs to Esja.
• The Klais organ At a Saturday noon concert.
• Leifur Eiríksson In front of the church.
• Skólavörðustígur The walk up from the centre.

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