Hafnartorg

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Everything started here. In Kvosin, the lowland between Reykjavík Pond and Reykjavík Harbor, or between Arnarhóll and Grjótaþorp. It was here that the family of Ingólfur Arnarson, the first settler of Iceland 1150 years ago, set up their home. 273 years ago, Skúli Magnússon’s Interiors were established in Kvosin, transforming the area into a village, then a town, and eventually the capital city, Reykjavík. It all began in Adalstræti, where Ingólfur built his farm and Skúli Magnússon from Norður-Þingeyjarsýsla ushered in modern times. There is a very good collection on the formation of the capital city in the exhibition “History of a City in a Nutshell,” a part of the Reykjavík City Museum’s City Saga exhibition. Icelandic Times / Land & Saga embarked on a photographic journey to see and experience the present-day Kvosin as this oldest part of town is today. Enjoy.

Austurstræti, looking towards the 1955 high rise building that used to house Morgunbladid newspaper and is to this day called “The Morgunbladid Palace”
The City Hall and Hallgrímskirkja in the distance
Skúli Magnússon, often called “the Father of Reykjavík”, stands in firm in the Sheriff’s Garden on the corner of Adalstæti and Kirkjustræti
Austurstræti dressed in Red
Old Reykjavík meets the new in Vesturgata
Reykjavík Art Museum, Tryggvagata
The Custom’s Building, adorned with Nína Tryggvadóttir’s enormous mosaic, Tryggvagata
Streetview from Lækjargata
Adalstræti, Reykjavík’s oldest street, looking towards Grjótaþorpið.

Reykjavík 09/05/2024 : A7C R – FE 1.2/50mm GM
Photo & text : Páll Stefánsson