Skálholt - Travel & Tourism Guide Skálholt - Islande

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Located about 20 minutes by car from the better known village of Flúðir, this village of 160 souls is home to a modern 30-meter high church (worth a visit!) which now marks the site of the former archbishop's palace located in a geothermal activity zone. For centuries (from 1056 to 1801), this important ecclesiastical place was the intellectual center of South Iceland. 44 bishops officiated at Skálholt. Among many historical events that took place here was the execution in 1550 of the last Catholic bishop in the country, Jón Arason, and his two sons. It was also here that the country's first college was founded.