Þingeyrarkirkja church is an impressive and extraordinary Lutheran church overlooking Lake Hóp (Iceland&#8217;s fifth largest lake) east of the Vatnsnes Peninsula. It took thirteen years to build and opened for services in the year 1877.
Þingeyrarkirkja church stands on a small hill and is visible for miles. It&#8217;s a beautiful building and well worth the stop.
The church is unusual for late 19th century architecture. Churches at that time were typically wooden and covered with corrugated iron. Instead, Þingeyrarkirkja was constructed from hewn basalt and limestone, a very pricey undertaking. The interior is also unusual. It has a deep, broad apse that encircles everything in front of the pews – markedly different from the rectangular Icelandic church norm.
The church’s half-domed dark blue ceiling has about a thousand gold stars mounted on it. Several items inside the church are historically significant, including an altarpiece that originated in 15th-century Nottingham, England.
<h2>The monastery at Þingeyri</h2>
Many Icelanders consider Þingeyrarkirkja to be amongst the most beautiful churches in Iceland. There has actually always been a religious building on site since the Middle Ages, including Iceland&#8217;s first monstery.
Bishop Jón Ögmundsson established a Benedictine monastery in 1133. Þingeyrarklaustur monastery was quite wealthy and exixted for a long time. The monks at the monastery played an important role in Iceland&#8216;s literature history. The monks wrote down and made copies of many Icelandic sagas and created beautiful parchments. These Sagas tell the story of the Vikings who settled in Iceland.
The monastery closed in the year 1550 after the Reformation came to Iceland. The former monks, however, were allowed to remain in the building for the rest of their lives. No one knows when the abbey was actually dissolved. After this, Lutheran churches stood on the site, ending with the beautiful Þingeyrarkirkja, which still holds services in the area.

Þingeyrarkirkja Church

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