The present church

The present Hvalsneskirkja was built in 1886–1887 and consecrated in 1887. Construction was funded by Ketill Ketilsson, a farmer and shipowner from Kotvogur who owned the land at Hvalsnes.

The church was built from carved basalt blocks taken from the surrounding area, giving the exterior the dark and solid appearance that still defines it today. The material ties the building closely to the volcanic landscape around it rather than separating the church visually from its setting.

The wood used inside reflects another long-established Reykjanes reality: usable timber was scarce, so driftwood and salvaged material were valuable resources. The interior contains a mixture of such timber.

That broader context became especially important after 1881, when the unmanned American timber ship Jamestown drifted ashore in the Hvalsnes and Ósar area carrying a large cargo of wood. Much of the timber was salvaged and reused throughout Suðurnes, although the exact origin of every individual piece used in Hvalsneskirkja cannot always be established.

The present church also stands in a different position from its predecessors. Earlier churches stood within the churchyard, while the 1887 building was constructed outside it.

Substantial repairs were carried out in 1945 under the Office of the State Architect, including insulation, interior plastering and alterations to the windows. Hvalsneskirkja is now protected as a historic building.

Hallgrímur Pétursson and Hvalsnes

The most famous person associated with Hvalsnes is Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674), one of Iceland’s most important poets and religious writers. He served as priest at Hvalsnes from 1644 until 1651.

Hallgrímur is best known for the Passíusálmar, or Passion Hymns, which became one of the most influential works in Icelandic religious literature. His years at Hvalsnes came before the completion of the hymns, but the place is closely connected with one of the most personal tragedies of his life.

Hallgrímur and his wife Guðríður Símonardóttir lost their young daughter Steinunn Hallgrímsdóttir in 1649, when she was only four years old. A gravestone was made for her, and tradition holds that Hallgrímur himself carved it.

Over time, the stone disappeared from memory. Centuries later, in 1964, it was rediscovered almost by accident after having been reused as paving in front of Hvalsneskirkja and walked over for years without its importance being recognised.

Once identified, the stone became one of the most significant objects connected with Hallgrímur’s years at Hvalsnes. It can still be seen at the church today.

The discovery gives Hvalsneskirkja a very personal historical dimension. The site does not merely commemorate a famous poet and priest; it preserves something connected directly with the death of his child and with his own life at Hvalsnes.

The altarpiece

Another important feature of Hvalsneskirkja is its altarpiece, painted in 1886 by Sigurður Guðmundsson, one of the most important Icelandic artists and cultural figures of the nineteenth century.

The painting depicts the Resurrection and is a copy of the altarpiece in Dómkirkjan, Reykjavík Cathedral. Its date ties it directly to the construction of the present church, making it part of the original interior created when Hvalsneskirkja was completed in the late nineteenth century.

The church therefore brings together several distinct strands of Icelandic history within a very small building: local basalt construction, salvaged timber, nineteenth-century religious art and the much older story of Hallgrímur Pétursson and his family.

That concentration of history is what gives Hvalsneskirkja its importance. Architecturally it is modest, but culturally it reaches far beyond its size.

Visiting Hvalsneskirkja

Hvalsneskirkja is not normally open to visitors. There is a small parking area beside the church, and the exterior, churchyard and surrounding landscape can be visited without entering the building.

Steinunn Hallgrímsdóttir’s gravestone can be seen at the church, giving visitors a direct connection with the story of Hallgrímur Pétursson’s years at Hvalsnes.

The setting is quiet and exposed, with little between the church and the open landscape of western Reykjanes. That isolation is part of the character of the place and makes Hvalsneskirkja feel very different from Iceland’s larger and more frequently visited churches.

The visit is therefore not about scale or spectacle. Its strength lies in the continuity between church, history and landscape.

A church at Hvalsnes is probably mentioned in records dating from around 1200.

• The present stone church was built in 1886–1887 and consecrated in 1887.
• It was funded by Ketill Ketilsson of Kotvogur.
• Earlier churches stood inside the churchyard; the present church was built outside it.
• Hallgrímur Pétursson served as priest at Hvalsnes from 1644 to 1651.
• His daughter Steinunn died in 1649, aged four.
• Her gravestone was rediscovered in 1964, reused as paving in front of the church.
• The altarpiece was painted by Sigurður Guðmundsson in 1886.
• Hvalsneskirkja is a protected historic building.