Church on Austurvollur Square (53952964)

Austurvöllur () is a public square in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

. The square is a popular gathering place for the citizens of Reykjavík, and especially during good weather due to the prevalence of cafés on Vallarstræti and Pósthússtræti. It has also been a focal point of protests due to the close location to the

Parliament of Iceland The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembly ...

. The square contains a large statue of

Jón Sigurðsson Jón Sigurðsson (17 June 1811 – 7 December 1879) was the leader of the 19th century Icelandic independence movement. Biography Born at Hrafnseyri, in Arnarfjörður in the Westfjords area of Iceland, he was the son of Þórdís Jónsdótti ...

, a leader of Iceland's independence movement. Austurvöllur is surrounded by Vallarstræti, Pósthússtræti, Kirkjustræti and Thorvaldsensstræti. The latter of which is named after

Bertel Thorvaldsen Bertel Thorvaldsen (; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish and Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in ...

, a statue of whom was, for a long period of time, present in the centre of Austurvöllur, now occupied by a statue of

. Located around the perimeter of the square are: the Alþingishúsið (

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * Parliament House, Darwin, Parliame ...

), the Dómkirkjan (the city's oldest church), the Hotel Borg, as well as numerous cafés, restaurants and bars. In the early 18th century, Austurvöllur was much larger and stretched from Aðalstræti in the west towards the creek in the east, and Aðalstræti in the north towards Tjörn in the south.

Protests at Austurvöllur

There has been a tradition of protests taking place in Austurvöllur. One of the first of these such protests were the demonstrations which took in relation to the intended placement of radio towers across the country in 1905, when thousands of people gathered together in Austurvöllur.''Bændafundurinn í Reykjavík''
newspaper article

Ísafold ''Ísafold'' was an Icelandic newspaper, published weekly. It was founded in 1874 by the politician Björn Jónsson, who was the editor until 1909, when he became prime minister. ''Ísafold'' was published until 1929, when it merged with ''Morgu ...

, 4 August 1905 Several years later a major riot occurred on 30 March 1949, when a resolution was adopted on Iceland's entry into

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

. On this occasion

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

used

teargas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...

to disperse rioters.

''Raddir fólksins'' protests

Following the economic crisis of 2008, protests by the political organization Raddir fólksins ("Voices of the people") began in Austurvöllur on 11 October 2008, and continued to be held every Saturday until the resignation of the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Geir Haarde Geir Hilmar Haarde (; born 8 April 1951) is an Icelandic politician, who served as prime minister of Iceland from 15 June 2006 to 1 February 2009 and as president of the Nordic Council in 1995. Geir was chairman of the Icelandic Independence Par ...

. The main demands of the protests were the resignations of the government, the

Central Bank of Iceland The Central Bank of Iceland ( is, Seðlabanki Íslands) is the central bank or reserve bank of Iceland. It has served in this capacity since 1961, when it was created by an act of the Alþingi out of the central banking department of Landsbank ...

, and the board of The Financial Supervisory Authority. The demonstrations were in part identified with property destruction and violence against police officers.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Austurvollur Geography of Reykjavík Tourist attractions in Reykjavík