"Þingvellir" a Þingvellir Travel Page by snorril

Þingvellir national park is located approx. 40 minutes drive east out of Reykjavík. The site has a special place in the nation's heart because of its huge importans in its history.

Þingvellir was the place were Icelanders gathered to assamble their parliament in 930. The parliament was situated there for almost 9 centuries, until 1798. Many of the Sagas take place at Þingvellir and most important decisions the nation had to make were made there.
One of the most famous is when Iceland, in the year 1000, decided to become Christian and abolish the believe in the Nordic Gods. Probably one of the most peaceful religous change in history.

Þingvellir has been the setting for many national festivals, i.e. the Indipendence festival where Icelanders celebrated their independance on June 17th 1944.

Þingvellir consist of vast lava fields, with interesting rock formations, cracks and fissures, a big lake (the biggest in Iceland not man made) with trout-fishing, some birch woods and impressive mountainous background.

This place is hugely popular with Icelanders and a very common destination for a Sunday's road trip. The place is especially impressive during the fall with all it's multicoulored leaves.

The Atlantic fissure, that seperates the Eurasian and American plates, runs through the national park and the forces generated when these plates move against each other are responisble for the unique landscapes.

----- I´m currently suffering from lack of good photographs of the place as most of them aren't on digital format. So I will have to borrow some pics until I upgrade my own. -----