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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.

7 Places

Photograph of the site — Borg á Mýrum 2024 (0741)

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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Photograph of the site — Flugumýrarkirkja

Historic Farmstead · North Iceland

Flugumýri

Flugumýri is a historic church and farm site in Skagafjörður, North Iceland, said in the Landnámabók to be named for a mare called Fluga owned by its first settler, Þórir dúfunef.

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Photograph of the site — Hlíðarendi 2024

Historic Farmstead · South Iceland

Hlíðarendi

Hlíðarendi is a historic farm and church site in Fljótshlíð, South Iceland, identified in the source material as the Njáls saga farm and home to an on-site memorial statue tied to the saga.

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Photograph of the site — Hofskirkja Church - Flickr - anieto2k

Historic Farmstead · South Iceland

Hof í Öræfum

Hof í Öræfum is a cluster of farms in southeast Iceland beside Route 1, home to a turf church built in 1883 — the youngest turf church in the country.

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Photograph of the site — Korpulfss

Historic Farmstead · Capital Region

Korpúlfsstaðir

Korpúlfsstaðir is a former dairy estate within Reykjavík built in the 1920s by businessman Thor Jensen and now used as artist studios.

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Photograph of the site — Möðruvellir 0033

Historic Farmstead · North Iceland

Möðruvellir

Möðruvellir is a historic farm and church site in Hörgárdalur, North Iceland, continuously settled since the Age of Settlement and the birthplace of Iceland's first minister, Hannes Hafstein.

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Photograph of the site — Hvalfjoerdur 11

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.

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Before 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.