Borgartún
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Borgartún () is a street 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 ...
, that in years leading up to the country's economic crisis became the centre of the city's financial district. Three of Iceland's four largest banks have their headquarters in the area:
Arion banki Arion Banki hf. formerly ''Nýja Kaupþing hf'' or ''New Kaupthing'' is an Icelandic bank with roots tracing back to 1930. The bank operates in the Greater Reykjavík area as well as in the largest urban areas around the country. In 2016 the bank ...
,
Íslandsbanki Íslandsbanki is an Icelandic bank with roots tracing back to 1875, formerly being the domestic part of Glitnir banki hf., but on 15 October 2008 being split from the bankrupt Glitnir and reestablished into a new independent bank. The sole opera ...
and
Straumur ALMC hf., formerly Straumur Investment Bank hf. ( is, Straumur Fjárfestingabanki), is a regional investment bank headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland. Founded in 1986 as ''Hlutabréfasjóðurinn'' and rebranded as Straumur in 2004, the bank in ...
. A 19-story skyscraper, part of the Höfðatorg development, is located at Borgartún. As of 2012, the skyscraper is completed but the rest of the development remains unfinished. The location of the skyscraper has been controversial because it is located opposite a low-density residential street. Also located in Borgartún is
Höfði Höfði () is a house in Reykjavík, Iceland, best known as the location for the 1986 Reykjavík Summit meeting of President Ronald Reagan of the United States and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union. This meeting was an imp ...
, a house built in 1909. Initially, it was the house of the French consul in Iceland. It was the place of the Iceland Summit when
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
and
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
met there in 1986. It is now mainly used for ceremonies for the Reykjavík City municipality. The western end of Borgartún houses a complex of buildings where the offices of many departments of the Reykjavík city government, including a centralised service centre, are housed. The service centre is home to the Icelandic national registry, Þjóðskrá Íslands.


See also

*
Laugavegur (Reykjavík) Laugavegur () is the primary commercial artery of downtown Reykjavík, Iceland and one of the oldest shopping streets. The name means "wash road", as it used to lead to the hot springs in Laugardalur where in olden times the women of Reykjaví ...
: the main shopping street in Reykjavík Streets in Reykjavík Financial districts {{Iceland-transport-stub