Hofskirkja Turf Church

Hofskirkja stands at the farm of Hof in the Oraefi district, under the ice of Oraefajokull, and is the last church in Iceland built in the full turf tradition, raised in the late nineteenth century. Walls of stacked turf and stone carry a roof of grass that grows and is cut like a meadow, so from the road the building reads as a green mound with a small white gable and a dark door. The churchyard around it is a field of grassed-over graves, low humps in the turf, and the whole thing is small enough to walk around in ten minutes.

What you actually see

• The grass roof - turf laid in courses over timber, cut back each summer like a lawn.
• The turf and stone walls - thick banked walls that keep the interior dark and warm.
• The graveyard mounds - old graves grassed over into low humps around the church.
• The setting - Oraefajokull and its glacier tongues rising directly behind the farm.

When to go

Summer, when the grass roof is green and the church is usually open during the day; in winter it is often locked and the yard lies under snow. Morning light falls on the gable from the east. It is a five-minute stop that fits neatly between Skaftafell and Jokulsarlon, and nothing needs booking.

Honest expectations

It is small, and the interior is plain, so anyone expecting a cathedral leaves in two minutes. Opening is not guaranteed and the door is sometimes locked with no notice. This is an active churchyard with recent graves, so groups milling about with cameras are not always welcome. Parking is a gravel patch that two coaches fill.

Nearby

Skaftafell and the Vatnajokull glacier tongues lie west, Jokulsarlon lagoon east along the ring road.