Skálholt Cathedral

About Skálholt Cathedral

Skálholt is a historic church estate and former bishop's seat in the Biskupstungur district of South Iceland, a short detour off the Golden Circle between Selfoss and Geysir. For centuries it was the religious and cultural center of the country, and today a white mid-century cathedral stands on the hill where the old ones stood.

The first church was built here shortly after Iceland adopted Christianity around the year 1000. In 1056 Ísleifur Gissurarson was consecrated in Bremen as the first bishop of Iceland and ran the diocese from his family farm at Skálholt, which grew into a school, a power base and a place of pilgrimage. In 1550 the Catholic bishop Jón Arason and his sons were executed here, ending the last resistance to the Lutheran Reformation.

The current cathedral is the tenth church on the site. It was consecrated in 1963 and restored in 2021, and the basement holds an exhibition of objects from the old bishop's seat, along with an old tunnel that visitors can walk through. Every summer since 1975 the church has hosted the Skálholt Summer Concerts, one of the oldest Baroque music festivals in the Nordic countries.

The cathedral and the small building Þorláksbúð are open daily from 9:00 to 18:00, and there is no admission or parking fee, though donations are welcome. Guided tours of about 30 minutes run between 9:00 and 17:00 for a per-person fee and are booked by email. Mass is held on Sundays at 11:00.

Skálholt is about an hour and a half from Reykjavík and roughly 30 minutes from Geysir, so it fits easily into a Golden Circle day. Allow 45 minutes to an hour for the church, the exhibition and the grounds, or stay longer and eat at the restaurant on site.