We were staying in Hafnarfjörður for our short Iceland break which was a short bus ride from Reykjavík so it was inevitable that we would both visit the country’s capital city and take in a tour of its famous Lutheran church, Hallgrímskirkja.
As a piece of expressionist architecture the church borrows a lot from brutalism in its use of materials and repetitive strutural pieces, all of which I love. The church looked great from a distance and it was wonderful to be able to walk around its exterior taking photos.
The interior of Hallgrímskirkja was austere, possibly because that’s the way Lutheran churches are (we’re not familiar with churches of the faith) and possibly because that’s part of the Icelandic culture. For all that it was still impressive in a minimalist way.
We paid a small fee and took an equally small elevator up the tower. This took us to roughly the level of the clock face and a set of steps allowed us up further to see views out across Reykjavík. As an obvious tourist point in the city it’s well worth a visit.
