Laufáskirkja

Background

History & Background

Laufás has been an important farm and church site since the early settlement period. The present church was built in 1865, replacing earlier church buildings. A carved pulpit from 1698 survives inside and reflects the site's longer ecclesiastical history.

Laufáskirkja forms part of the historic Laufás farm complex on the eastern shore of Eyjafjörður. Laufás has been inhabited since the settlement era, and a church has stood here since the early centuries of Christianity in Iceland. The present church was built in 1865. Among its most notable interior objects is an elaborately carved pulpit dating from 1698, linking the current building with the site's much older religious history. The church is best visited as part of the wider Laufás heritage site. The neighbouring turf farm is an unusually large and well-preserved example of traditional Icelandic farm architecture and is furnished to show rural life around the turn of the 20th century. Together, the church, farm buildings and views across Eyjafjörður make Laufás one of the region's strongest cultural-history stops.