Landakotskirkja

Landakotskirkja (Landakot Church), formally named Basilika Krists konungs(Basilica of Christ the King) and often referred to as Kristskirkja (Christ's Church), is the Catholic cathedral of Iceland, located in Reykjavik.

The first Catholic priests to arrive in Iceland after the Reformation were the frenchmen Bernard Bernard and Jean-Baptiste Baudoin. They bought the Landakot farmstead in Reykjavík in the early 19th century and built a small chapel there in 1864. A few years later, a small wooden church was erected by Túngata, close to Landakot.

After the First World War, the number of Icelandic Catholics was growing and there was a need to build a bigger church. They decided to build a Neo-Gothic church and entrusted the task to the modernist architect Guðjón Samúelsson (who also designed the Hallgrimskirkja). After years of construction, Landakotskirkja was finally consecrated on July 23, 1929. It was the largest church in Iceland at the time.

Nowadays, Landakotskirkja remains a landmark of western Reykjavík. Its square tower has a flat top in place of the standard spire. Because of the community's request for a Neo-Gothic church, it is more conservative in style than Samuelsson's other creations but still has clear modern elements and glacier-inspired lines. The interior is traditionally Gothic, with a patterned tile floor and no aisles or transepts. On the grounds is the only Catholic school in Iceland, Landakotsskóli.

Posted in: Iceland