Icelandic National Park

Title

Icelandic National Park

Artist

Catherine Sherman

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

"Icelandic National Park" by Catherine Sherman.

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) is a historic site and national park in Iceland, east of Reykjavík. It's known for the Alþing (Althing), the site of Iceland's parliament from the 10th to 18th centuries. The Althing, an open-air assembly representing the whole of Iceland, was established in 930 and continued to meet until 1798.

According to the park's official website: "No single place epitomizes the history of Iceland and the Icelandic nation better than Thingvellir by the river Öxará.
At Thingvellir - literally "Parliament Plains" - the Althing general assembly was established around 930 and continued to convene there until 1798. Major events in the history of Iceland have taken place at Thingvellir and therefore the place is held in high esteem by all Icelanders.Today Thingvellir is a protected national shrine. According to the law, passed in 1928, the protected area shall always be the property of the Icelandic nation, under the preservation of the Althing."

On the site are the Thingvellir Church, and Thingvallarbaer, the official summer residence of the prime minister, built for the Althingi millennium celebration in 1930. The park also contains the ruins of old stone shelters. The park sits in a rift valley caused by the separation of 2 tectonic plates, with rocky cliffs and fissures. The continental drift between the North American and Eurasian Plates can be clearly seen in the cracks or faults which traverse the region, the largest one, Almannagjá, being a canyon.


Thingvellir National Park was founded in 1930, marking the one-thousandth anniversary of the Althing. The park was later expanded to protect the diverse and natural phenomena in the surrounding area, and was designated as a World Heritage Site in 2004.


Thingvellir is situated on the northern shore of Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake of Iceland. The river Öxará traverses the national park.
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September 27th, 2017

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