As we wandered around Reykjavik on the first day of our visit in May, Chris and I glanced down one of the street and caught sight of an ultra modern church that was looming over all the normal-sized buildings that lined the street in front of it. What the heck was that church on the top of that hill?

Well, it turns out to be called Hallgrímskirkja. It is a Lutheran church, and it is both the largest church, as well as the 6th largest architectural structure of any kind,  in Iceland. No wonder it seemed so big from a distance – it really is huge.

I wandered up closer one cold morning while we were there, getting up to the front to snap a few photos of the church exterior. Inside the church is supposed to be interesting, but several people in shops had recommended that I wait to go inside on a clear day, as the views from the top of the bell tower are supposed to be amazing.

However, on that day I walked up there, after I snapped the exterior shots, it started to drizzle; as I was by this point extremely cold after my walk, I ducked into a nearby neighborhood coffee shop to see how the weather was going to resolved itself.

It stopped raining for a brief moment, so I took a few more exterior photos. And then it rained again. But of course. There went the possibility for a nice view from the tower, so I never did go inside the church.

However, you can look at the official Hallgrímskirkja website or at the Wikipedia entry for Hallgrímskirkja to see photos of the interior.

My photo gallery below just has exterior shots of Hallgrímskirkja. As a bonus, though, I’ve included a photo of the exterior of the coffee shop I went into.  Now that’s something you won’t easily find on Wikipedia, I’m guessing.  😉

Enjoy.