354-455-6333 / 354-455-6334, fax: 354-455-6301 E-mail: tourist@holar.is

We are open from June 1st until August 31st the year 2003.

A bit of history

Hólar in Hjaltadalur

Hjaltadalur lies to the south-east into the great mountain range between Skagafjörður and Eyjafjörður, commonly known as Tröllaskagi or the peninsula of the Giants. The valley is surrounded by 1000m to 1200m high mountains that are scarred by mountain passes and other smaller valleys. Small glaciers are found at the bottom of some of these valleys. Hólar is near the middle of the valley on the eastern side. It stands among a cluster of hills formed by an earth-flow from Hólabyrða, one of the highest most majestic mountains in this area. Hólar derives its name from this mountain. 

Hólar is not mentioned in the Icelandic sagas. It is thought that it was settled by people from the early settlement Hof, which is about 2,5 km south of Hólar. Hof was settled by Hjalti Þórðarson whose sons became famous for their generosity and gallantry. The story tells that they gave the most numerous burial feast in the heathen times when they buried their father. Twelve hundred guests were invited and all men of distinction were dismissed with gifts. There is no doubt that their nobility and that of their descendants helped establish the fame and prosperity of Hólar. 

In the middle of the eleventh century a kinsman of the Hof family named Oxi Hjaltason, who lived in Hólar, built a great church there. Around the year 1100 Hólar belonged to Illugi Bjarnason. When a bishop's seat was established in the northern part of Iceland Illugi gave Hólar to the church for that purpose. 

Bishops worth to be remembered! 

Hólar remained a bishop's seat for almost seven centuries from 1106 until 1802 when Hólar was sold. During that era Hólar was the true center of the northern part of Iceland and one of the major cultural centers of the area. This status was partly due to the school that was run there most of the time. 

Great wealth gathered at Hólar. During the peak of the bishop's seat era Hólar owned 352 estates that accounted for about a quarter of all the estates in the northern part of the country. Apart from that it enjoyed the privilege of driftwood and other advantages in several places. 

Of the thirty-six bishops who resided at Hólar, twenty-three resided there during the Catholic era and thirteen after the Reformation. Many of these have their place in Icelandic history. Among the best known are Jón Ögmundsson, the sacred (1106-1121), Guðmundur Arason the good (1203-1237), Jón Arason (1524-1550) and Guðbrandur Þorlálsson (1571-1627). 

The first bishop in Hólar was Jón Ögmundsson the sacred, who was ordained in 1106. He ran a school for becoming priests in Hólar and became very well known for that as well as his management of the church. The commonly used phrase in Skagafjörður "heim til Hóla" or "back home to Hólar" dates back to Jón Ögmundsson. 

Guðmundur Arason the good was famous for his rivalry with some of the most respected chieftains in North of Iceland. Guðmundur became a kind of vagrant leading a band of followers. 

Jón Arason was the latest catholic bishop, and he fought strongly against the Reformation. Jón was beheaded along with his two sons in Skálholt in November 1550, and his resitance against the Reformation came to an end. Jón was a well known poet, and he brought the first printing press to Iceland around 1530. 

Guðbrandur Þorláksson was famous for his active book publishing, among them the first translation of the Bible into Icelandic, printed 1584. The printing of the Bible is thougt to be crucial to the preservation of the language. 

Hólar became a vicarage, after the bishop's seat was abolished, until 1861 when the vicarage was moved to Viðvík. In 1952 Hólar was reestablished as a vicarage, and since 1986 it has been the residence of the ordaining bishop in the Hólar benefice. In 1881 Skagafjörður county bought Hólar. A year later the present agricultural college was established. Today the Hólar College offers a one year study program in horse breeding and training, aquaculture and rural tourism. The aim of the study is to enchance the economic and social development of rural areas by vocational education in land-based industries. 

Accomodation:
 

• Cottages: At Hólar there are accommodations available for 50 people in summer cottages. There are 11 cottages which can house from 3 - 8 people. This includes six smaller cottages, each with a single room that sleeps three (four cottages) or four people (two cottages), and five cottages that sleep four to eight people in double rooms. Each cottage has cooking facilities. 
• Rooms: In the school dormitory there are rooms available to accommodate 29 people, consisting of 14 double and one single room.
• Camping: Hólar woods provides a pleasant camping place for about 200 people. The campground is in the middle of a small grown forest, supplying good shelter. The woods is divided into small clearings. Facilities include hot and cold running water, washrooms and firepits in each clearing.

• The cathedral: Daily guided tours. The Cathedral was built 1763 and houses some of the nation's greatest pre-Reformation ecclesiastical treasures, including an English alabaster altarpiece made in Nottingham around 1470, and an early 16th century Gothic triptych, probably Dutch. Hólar Cathedral also prides itself of the original edition of the first translation of the Bible into Icelandic, printed 1584. 
• "History walk" - marked walking route. 
• Freshwater aquarium - daily guided tours. 
• Horse and horsemanship exhibition. 
• The haunted Tour of Hólar. 
• Geothermal swimming pool with hot tub. 
• Riding instruction. 
• Angling pond. 
• Domestic animals. 
• Walks and hikes. 
• Special programs available for groups: lectures, cultural events, interest tours etc.

Leisure and sport in the neighbourhood

• Glaumbær - Skagafjörður Folk Museum glaumb@krokur.is
• Vesturfarasetur Hofsós - An Emigration Centre. 
• The Old Warehouse in Hofsós - houses exhibition of "Hunters and fishers of Drangey island" 
• Siglufjörður - Herring Era Museum. 
• River rafting. 
• Horse rental -long and short trips. 
• Boat tours (Drangey, Málmey). 
• Golf. 
• Marked walking routes. 
• Sea angling, fishing and hunting.