Hólar in Hjaltadalur

Hólar in Hjaltadalur in Skagafjörður, is an episcopal seat, a church and a university village. A bishop’s chair was placed there in 1106 when the people of the north demanded an episcopal seat, and a bishop as a counterweight to Skálholt in Biskupstungur in the south. The bishops in Hólar were 23 Catholic, and 13 Lutheran, the last one was Sigurður Stefánsson, bishop from 1789 until his death in 1798, but after his death the two dioceses were united, and the school was moved south to Reykjavík. Hólar was actually the capital and the main cultural center of northern parts of Iceland from the beginning of the 12th century to the beginning of the 19th century. Since 2003, there has been educational programs at university level taught at the University of Hólar, in tourism, aquaculture, fish biology department and an equine science department. A consecration bishop has been at Hólar since 1986, the current consecration bishop is Reverend Gísli Gunnarsson.