Viðeyjarkirkja - Viðey Island, Reykjavik, Iceland
Posted by: denben
N 64° 09.774 W 021° 51.213
27W E 458495 N 7115445
Viðeyjarkirkja (Viðey church) stands next to Viðeyjarstofa (Viðey house) on Viðey Island, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Waymark Code: WMWRRZ
Location: Iceland
Date Posted: 10/08/2017
Views: 3
Starting in the 1530s, Iceland, originally Catholic and under the Danish crown, formally became Lutheran under the Icelandic Reformation, which culminated in 1550.
Viðey Church was consecrated in 1774. It is one of Iceland´s oldest churches and still has its original interior fittings. Renovation work on Viðey Church and Viðey house was completed in 1988. The church is open to all visitors.
An object of interest inside the church is the confessional placed on the right side of the altar. This is unique in a Lutheran church in Iceland, the only existant confessional. The Catholic custom of confession persisted in Iceland long after the Reformation in the 16th century and continued to be practised until the 19th century. Before they could take Communion, worshippers had to go to the priest sat in the chair, while the penitent knelt before him and made confession before receiving absolution.
The 18th century church can be rented for weddings. Viðeyjarstofa (a large old stone restaurant) is an ideal venue for the wedding party, right next-door to the church and its beautiful view overlooking Reykjavík city.
In the small cemetery on the church's grounds is buried, among others, Ólafur Stephensen, Governor of Iceland, and his son Magnús Stephensen President of the High Court of Iceland, and Gunnar Gunnarsson, poet.
Sources: (
visit link) and (
visit link) and Viðey Church information panel on site