Iceland · Archaeological Heritage
Historic & Abandoned Places
Registered abandoned farms, ruins, shielings and historic church sites from Iceland's national archaeological survey — not every site here is abandoned, and not every site is currently open to visit.
Iceland was settled from the late 9th century onward, and centuries of farming, changing climate, and rural depopulation have left thousands of former farmsteads, outbuildings and seasonal herding sites recorded but unoccupied across the country. Minjastofnun Íslands, the national heritage agency, maintains an open archaeological survey of these locations. This collection presents a reviewed selection of that data with independently written, factual descriptions — and, where public access hasn't been verified, an honest note saying so rather than an invitation to visit.
5 Places

Historic Farmstead · West Iceland
Borg á Mýrum
Borg á Mýrum is a historic church and farm site in West Iceland, settled by Skalla-Grímur Kveldúlfsson and later home to his son, the saga poet Egill Skallagrímsson.
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Historic Church Site · West Iceland
Helgafell
Helgafell is a historic church and farm site on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, tied to the Laxdæla saga figure Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir, whose grave lies in the churchyard.
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Ruin · West Iceland
Sauðafell
Sauðafell is a protected farm mound in the Dalir region of West Iceland, linked in file records to the 1550 capture of Bishop Jón Arason.
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Historic Church Site · West 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.
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Historic Farmstead · West Iceland
Þyrill
Þyrill is a historic farm beneath Mount Þyrill on Hvalfjörður in West Iceland, linked in Harðar saga og Hólmverja to the killing of the outlaw Hörður Grímkelsson.
ExploreBefore You Go
Responsible Exploration
- Many of these sites sit on private agricultural land — access is not guaranteed and should never be assumed.
- Do not climb on, enter, or move stones from any ruined structure.
- Do not remove artifacts. Several sites carry Iceland's highest legal protection tier (friðlýst).
- Where a page doesn't confirm a public trail or parking point, none should be assumed to exist.