Hólar i Hjaltadalur reseguide

Holar in Hjaltadalur valley, in the east of Skagafjordur is an ancient bishop seat and an important historical site. It currently has a female ordaining bishop. 

Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons, by Jakob Gleby. No edits made.

Explore this area of Iceland on a self drive tour.

As well as being the is the site of historical buildings and excavations, Holar features an agricultural university, a turf house built in 1934 that is rented out for lodgings and a center for the history of the Icelandic horse.

Holar was the last stronghold for Catholicism, led by bishop Jon Arason, against the advent of Lutherianism and the growing power of the Danish king in the Reformation age. Jon was beheaded along with his sons at the southern bishop seat Holar in 1550. He is widely considered a national hero.