Old Icelandic Buildings

The Church of Hof belongs to the Skaftafell deanery kin the south of Iceland. Although the oldest documents relating to the church date back to 1343, the main structure of the current church building dates back to 1884. It came into the possession of the National Museum which had it rebuilt 1953 -54. The altar and pulpit are from 1857 while the Danish -made pewter candlesticks date back to the 17th or 16th century. The altarpiece is by the artist Ólafur Túbals. The Vigur windmill is the only extant wind powered grain mill in the country made of timber. It is believed that Daniel Hjaltason, builder and goldsmith, designed and built the mill in 1860. It has been in the custody of the National Museum since 1992. The windmill is a timber structure, 3.60 meters in height with a wingspan of 4.30 m. The Flatey library was built in 1864 on the initiative of Brynjolfur and Herdís Benedictsen. It is the first building in Iceland which was specifically designed to house books. A great collection of manuscripts was kept in the library, a large part of which was handed over to the National Library of Iceland in 1902 -03. The library was rebuilt under the supervision of an official protection agency (Minjavernd) and is still in the custody of the agency. The turf shed in Vatnsfjörður. Vatnsfjörður is a historic manor in the West Fjords. Among clerics residing there was Hjalti Thorsteinsson (1665 -1745), a versatile artist. In many parts of the West Fjords stones were used in turf building walls, including the turf shed in Vatnsfjörður which was built about 1880. It was used to store fishing gear and seafood. The turf shed belongs to the National Museum‘s Collection of Historic Buildings.