Möðruvellir (Hörgárdalur)

Möðruvellir
Möðruvellir
Coordinates	65 ° 46 ′  N , 18 ° 15 ′  W Coordinates: 65 ° 46 ′  N , 18 ° 15 ′  W
Basic data
Country	Iceland
region	Norðurland eystra
local community	Hörgársveit
Möðruvellir Church

Möðruvellir (also Möðruvellir í Hörgárdal ) is a place in the municipality of Hörgársveit in northern Iceland .

geography

The small town in Hörgárdalur is about five kilometers from the Eyjafjörður fjord and about 15 kilometers north of Akureyri in the direction of Dalvík .

history

In the Middle Ages there was a well-known Augustinian monastery in Möðruvellir , the Möðruvallaklaustur , in which manuscripts were also written. It was built in 1296 but burned down in 1316.

After the Reformation , the valuable property passed into the hands of the Danish kings in 1550 and many of their highest administrative officials for the north of Iceland settled there. In 1628 the first known owner of a medieval manuscript in Iceland signed it up; it is now called Möðruvallabók . The current church was built between 1865 and 1867.

One of the first high schools in Iceland was founded in Möðruvellir in 1880 . It was on site until 1902, but it burned down and was then moved to Akureyri.

Overall, there were a considerable number of major fires on site.

Culture and sights

church

The town's church was completed in 1866, but was not handed over to the community until a year later. Her predecessor was also burned down. At the time of its construction it was the largest wooden church in Iceland at the time. This is explained by the fact that Möðruvellir was the seat of the Danish administrative bureau from 1789 to 1874 and the administrative seat for the north of Iceland. The church can accommodate 250 people. The vault is decorated with over 2000 plaster stars.

Personalities

The writer Jón Sveinsson was born in Möðruvellir in 1857.

The later Minister for the whole of Iceland, who was the first Icelander to hold this office and have his seat in Reykjavík, Hannes Hafstein (1861–1922), also came from there.

The poet Bjarni Thorarensen (1786–1841) and the playwright Davíð Stefánsson frá Fagraskógi (1895–1964) are buried here.

The writers Hulda A. Stefánsdóttir and Steindór Steindórsson worked here as headmasters.

Web links

Commons : Möðruvallarkirkja í Hörgárdal  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Holy worship in Möðruvellir before the Reformation (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Vegahandbókin . Landmælingar Íslands 2005, p. 357
2. ↑ Vegahandbókin. ibid.
3. ↑ Vegahandbókin, ibid.
4. ↑ Vegahandbókin. ibid.
5. ↑ http://www.kirkjan.is/node/6150 Accessed: August 24, 2010
6. ↑ Vegahandbókin. Landmælingar Íslands 2005, p. 357