Hallgrímskirkja

Lonely Planet review

Reykjavík's most attention-seeking building is the immense concrete church Hallgrímskirkja, star of a thousand postcards and visible from 20km away. For an unmissable view of the city, make sure you take an elevator trip up the 75m-high tower.

In contrast to the high drama outside, the church's interior is puritanically plain. The most startling feature is the vast 5275-pipe organ, which has a strangely weapon-like appearance. Between mid-June and mid-August you can hear this mighty beast in action three times per week at lunchtime/evening concerts.

The church's radical design caused huge controversy, and its architect, Guðjón Samúelsson, never lived to see its completion - it took a painstaking 34 years (1940-74) to build. Those sweeping columns on either side of the tower represent volcanic basalt - a favourite motif of Icelandic nationalists. Hallgrímskirkja was named after the poet Reverend Hallgrímur Pétursson, who wrote Iceland's most popular hymn book.