Þingvellir National Park - Þingvellir, Iceland
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 64° 15.328 W 021° 07.683
27W E 493794 N 7125488
In addition to the amazing geology of the Park, this area is also believed to be where the Icelandic Parliament was founded.
Waymark Code: WMN09W
Location: Iceland
Date Posted: 12/01/2014
Views: 23
Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"Þingvellir ... is a place in Bláskógabyggð in southwestern Iceland, near the peninsula of Reykjanes and the Hengill volcanic area. Þingvellir is a site of historical, cultural, and geological importance and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. It is the site of a rift valley that marks the crest of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It is also home to Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.
Parliament or Alþingi was established at Þingvellir in 930 and remained there until 1798. Þingvellir National Park was founded in 1930 to protect the remains of the parliament site and was later expanded to protect natural phenomena in the surrounding area. Þingvellir National Park was the first national park in Iceland and was decreed "a protected national shrine for all Icelanders, the perpetual property of the Icelandic nation under the preservation of parliament, never to be sold or mortgaged.
Founding of Parliament
According to the Book of Settlements (Landnámabók), the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norwegian settler on the island. Over the next centuries, people of Norse and Celtic origin settled in Iceland. Early on, district assemblies were formed, but as the population grew there was a need for a general assembly. The descendants of Ingólfur who dominated the region of southwest Iceland had become the most powerful family in the country, and other chieftains felt a need for a general assembly to limit their power.
Grímur Geitskör was allotted the role of rallying support and finding a suitable location for the assembly. At about the same time, the owner of Bláskógar (the contemporary name for the Þingvellir region) was found guilty of murder and his land was declared public and obligated to be used for assembly proceedings, the building of temporary dwellings, the use of the forest for kindling and the grazing of horses. The Þingvellir region was chosen for this reason and the accessibility from the most populous regions of the north, south and west.[6] The farthest distance a goði (chieftain) had to travel was 17 days traveling from the easternmost part of the country where mountains and glacial rivers proved bothersome obstacles.
The foundation of the Icelandic parliament is said to be the founding of the nation of Iceland, and the first parliamentary proceedings in the summer of 930 laid ground for a common cultural heritage and national identity."