Ingólfur’s square
Ingólfstorg is named after the first settler, Ingólfur Arnarson, who settled there in the Kvos and named our capital Reykjavík. From the square, all the house numbers of Reykjavík are counted, as two of the city’s first streets meet on the square, Austurstræti and Aðalstræti. Number 10 by that street is the oldest house in Reykjavík, built in 1762. This beautiful, tarred wooden house has become part of the Reykjavík City Museum. There you can get to know the history of the city and its inhabitants in a beautiful exhibition. Ingólfur Arnarson and his wife Hallveig Fróðadóttir possibly built their farm here by the square in 874. The square has had many names in that millennia. Such as the Hotel Ísland-planið in the first half of the last century, then Steindórsplan in the middle of the previous century, and finally, the Hallærisplan before the square got its current name Ingólfstorg at the turn of the 21st century.
Reykjavík 04/08/2021 16:02 35m
Photo and text: Páll Stefánsson
