Matkaopas: Saurbæjarkirkja

Saurbaejarkirkja is a beautiful 19th-century Lutheran turf church in the fjord of Eyjafjordur in North Iceland.

Explore this area on a self drive tour in Iceland.

Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons, by Jon Gretarsson. No edits made.

The church site is an old one, originally Catholic and records mention priests there by name in the 14th century. There are also stories of a convent there as far back as the 12th century, but records of this are scarce.

The current church is one of only a few remaining turf churches in Iceland and the largest of the original ones, commissioned by rev. Einar Thorlacius with Olafur Briem as head smith. It is a protected building and under the supervision of the National Museum.

The outer turf and stone walls are thick and the roof is similarly turf clad. The inner construction is of wooden frame. The bells of such churches were usually hung rom the front gable, as there wasn’t a church tower.

Close by is a museum of small exhibits, belonging to master builder and avid collector Sverrir Hermansson. It has good facilites for travelers and the museum itself is a charming one.