The story of Hallgrímskirkja

Look up at this tower: at 74.5 metres, this is the largest church in Iceland. State Architect Guðjón Samúelsson's design was commissioned in 1937, and he is said to have shaped it after Iceland's landscape, especially the columnar basalt formations that resemble organ pipes. Building it took 41 years.

Construction began in 1945, the crypt was consecrated in 1948, the steeple and wings were finished in 1974, and the nave in 1986. At the time, critics called it too old-fashioned. The church was originally meant to be shorter, but the leaders of the Church of Iceland wanted a large spire to outshine the Catholic Landakotskirkja. It is named after the poet and cleric Hallgrímur Pétursson, author of the Passion Hymns, and its three largest bells carry the names of Hallgrímur, his wife Guðríður and their daughter Steinunn.

Inside, the great Klais organ has 5275 pipes and stands 15 metres tall. The statue of Leif Erikson out front is older than the church itself.