Skálholt
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Skálholt (Old Icelandic: Skálaholt) is an historical site situated in the south of Iceland at the river Hvítá.
The village Skálholt consists only of a relatively big church and a few houses. Nevertheless, it has been of great importance for the history of the country. Since the Middle Ages and until 1785, it was along with Hólar, one of Iceland's two episcopal sees, making it a cultural and political center as well. The first school in the country was founded at Skálholt. And in the year 1550 the last catholic bishop, Jón Arason of Hólar, was executed there along with his two sons.
The size of the church seems exceptional by Icelandic standards. In fact, the length of the church constructed from 1956 to 1963 is 30 m. But some of its predecessors were even longer (up to 50 m). Some other Scandinavian countries contributed to the present interior of the church.
Adam of Bremen, writing around 1075, describes Skálholt (Scaldholz) as the "largest city" in Iceland.
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[edit] References
- Adam of Bremen (edited by G. Waitz) (1876). Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum. Berlin. Available online
- Adam of Bremen (translated by Francis Joseph Tschan and Timothy Reuter) (2002). History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231125755
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