(, ''The Parliament House'') is a classical 19th-century structure which stands by

Austurvöllur Austurvöllur () is a public square in Reykjavík, Iceland. 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 ...

in central

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. It houses , the Icelandic parliament. The building was designed by Ferdinand Meldahl and built using hewn Icelandic

dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grain ...

from 1880 to 1881. The reliefs on the tympanums of the four outermost windows on the first floor represent the four

landvættir Landvættir ("land spirits" or "land wights") are spirits of the land in Old Nordic religion, later Scandinavian folklore, folk belief and modern Heathenry. They are closely associated with specific locations and their wellbeing is presented as be ...

of Iceland: a dragon, a vulture, a giant and a bull, momentarily appeased by Ingólfur Arnarson when he first landed in Iceland. has also housed the Icelandic National Library and Antiquaries Collection, and later the Icelandic National Gallery. The

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

used the first floor of the house from 1911 to 1940, and the

President of Iceland The president of Iceland () is the head of state of Iceland. The incumbent is Halla Tómasdóttir, who won the 2024 Icelandic presidential election, 2024 presidential election. The president is not involved in the running of the country, bu ...

had his offices in the building until 1973. Today, only the debating chamber, a few small meeting rooms and the offices of some of the senior parliamentary staff are actually located in . Committee meeting rooms, parliamentarians' offices and most of Alþingi's secretariat are located in other buildings in the area around Austurvöllur. There are currently plans to build a new building to house these offices and meeting rooms in the area immediately to the west of , where there is today a parking lot and a few smaller buildings currently being used by Alþingi and which will be incorporated into the new building.

References

Buildings and structures in Reykjavík Legislative buildings Seats of national legislatures Althing {{Iceland-struct-stub Buildings and structures completed in 1881