Walking through the historic town of Hólar in northern Iceland, we stumbled across a large and impressive statue of Guðmundur Arason. Arason served as the Bishop of Hólar from 1203 until his death in 1237 and is seen as a Catholic Saint to Icelanders today. His life was recorded in the Guðmundar saga biskups, which is an Icelandic bishops’ saga solely pertaining to Arason’s.
Within the small town of Hólar in northern Iceland, Nýibær provides visitors with a glimpse of the past. Public access to this historic turf house allows one to see what rural Icelandic life was like in the past and it really is cool to see!
If you’re traveling through the small town of Hólar in northern Iceland, you should stop by the the Auðunnarstofa or Auðun’s House. This is a replica of an ancient Icelandic house serves today as the Hólar Bishop’s Office.
Hólar, Iceland is a small little town in the northern part of the country that has so much history and drama within its walls. No stories are probably more dramatic than that of Bishop Jón Arason, the last Catholic Bishop of Iceland.
Nestled within the small town of Hólar, Iceland, you can find the Hólar Cathedral. As part of the Church of Iceland, the Hólar Cathedral is the official church of the Bishop of Hólar and is the latest of a long line of historic churches.
Situated in northern Iceland about an hour and a half drive west of Akureyri, is the old “capital of the north”, Hólar, Iceland. This tiny town, which today has a population of about 100 people, was once the religious center of Iceland and served as its northern capital for over 700 years. Today, to those curious travelers, it serves as a window into the past and there is so much to see.
