THE HOUSE OF THE NATION, ALÞINGISHÚSIÐ

Alþingishúsið at Austurvöllur

was built between 1880 and 1881. Since then, two annexes have been built next to the original building, Kringlan in 1908, and Skálinn in 2002. It was at Alþingi 1867 that it was approved to build an Icelandic stone parliament building in Reykjavík to commemorate a thousand years of Iceland's settlement in 1874. However, it was not until 1879 at Alþingi that a budget was approved to build a house that would not only be a building for Alþingi, but also a house for the country's museums and higher educational institutions. Ferdinand Meldahl, president of the University of the Arts in Copenhagen and master builder was commissioned to draw up designs for the house. The design was to be the subject of a great controversy for it was not to be built at Arnarhóll, because Governor Hilmar Finsen used fields there, but in the baker's slope, where Bankastræti 7 is now. In the autumn of 1879, they started digging the foundation in Bankastræti but when the master carpenter, F. Bald arrived in the country to

Alþingishúsið Austurvöllur, in December 2022, next to the Cathedral which was built in 1796, 85 years before the Alþingishúsið

Here is probably one of the most important halls of the Alþingishúsið, next to the Parliament hall build the house, with an entourage of fine stonemasons from Borgundarhólmur, he refused to build the building there on the steep slope, so again disputes over the location began. Finally, the cabbage patch located west of the Cathedral and owned by Halldór Kr. Friðrikson's, a member of parliament and a teacher, was bought for a great price. The stones that make up the house were taken from Þingholt, where you can now find Óðinsgata. Alþingishúsið was inaugurated during the assembly ceremony on July 1, 1881, and the first governor from 1873 to 1882, Hilmar Finsen (1824-1886), gave an inauguration speech after Mass in the Cathedral. After Hilmar retired as head of state a year later, he became mayor of Iceland's capital, Copenhagen, until his death. In the speech, he says; "...and there it now stands the most beautiful and safest house that has ever been built in Iceland, to the pride of the country and it's people... and that the Icelandic Parliament, in cooperation with the administration, had the will and ability to carry out such a beautiful and magnificent work.” Alþinghúsið is somewhat reminiscent, although smaller in size, of the Medici-Riccardi palace in Florence, built in 1444, with its roughly hewn stone, arched window arrangements and projecting roof edge. Nothing was spared in the construction. The walls of Alþingishúsið are 80 cm thick at the bottom, and the cavity in between is filled with lime, sand and cement. At the top, they are about half as thick. This remarkable house has served the nation well for 132 years, with three Governors, and 33 Prime Ministers during that time.