Historic Church Site · West Iceland, Iceland
Ytri-Rauðamelur
Ytri-Rauðamelur is a historic church site in West Iceland beneath a lava-rock edge, where four medieval copper cauldrons were unearthed nearby in 1959.
Photo: Jon Gretarsson · CC BY-SA 3.0
Overview
Ytri-Rauðamelur is a church site in West Iceland, set beneath a high lava-rock edge just north of Gerðuberg. A small timber church stands there today, continuing a church presence re-established at the site in 1570. The surrounding landscape includes a distinctively shaped scoria crater, Ytri-Rauðamelskúla, and a well-known mineral spring listed on Iceland's natural monuments register.
History
A church was re-established at Rauðamelur in 1570, initially as an annex church under Kolbeinsstaðir until 1645, and afterward under Miklaholt; a small timber church has stood there since. In 1959, four copper cauldrons were discovered in a lava fissure beside the farm; their form suggests they were made in the 13th or 14th century, though it is not known when or why they were placed there. Old Icelandic valuation records (Búalög) note that a cauldron of this kind could once be valued as highly as an eight-oared boat.
What Remains Today
A small timber church stands at the site today, documented in a direct photograph of Rauðamelur. Above the farm, the regularly shaped Ytri-Rauðamelskúla crater rises about 100 meters over the surrounding lava field.
Visiting & Preservation
Access Not Yet Verified
Ytri-Rauðamelur lies a short distance from a main road in West Iceland's lava country. Public access to this site has not been independently verified. Do not assume a trail, parking, or landowner permission exists.
Preservation Notice
No formal archaeological protection status is recorded for this site in the dataset used, though the nearby mineral spring, Rauðamelsölkelda, is separately listed on Iceland's natural monuments register.
Location
Why Visit
Ytri-Rauðamelur combines a continuously used church site dating to 1570 with a genuine archaeological find — four medieval copper cauldrons, discovered nearby in 1959 and dated by their form to the 13th or 14th century — alongside one of Iceland's best-known mineral springs immediately by the farm.
Did You Know?
Under old Icelandic valuation law (Búalög), a copper cauldron like the ones found near Rauðamelur in 1959 could be valued as highly as an eight-oared boat.
