Iceland Trip Þingvellir National Park November 2023
This National Park is an important part of Iceland. In 930 AD, over thirty ruling chiefs met for the first time to discuss law on the island and to create a commonwealth. These early Icelanders did was create a crude version of a modern-day representative parliament. The meeting was such a success that the chiefs returned each following year. The institution, called the Alþingi, developed to be a place where disputes were settled, where distant relations could share their annual news, and where criminals were tried and punished.
Because of its history, Þingvellir became a National Park in 1930, a millennium after the Alþingi’s establishment. In 2004, it was accepted as part of the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The park is important geographically too. Iceland is divided by the Mid-Atlantic Rift; some parts of it, such as the Westfjords and Reyjavík, are on the North American tectonic plate, while others, such as Vatnajökull glacier and the East Fjords, are on the Eurasian plate. Iceland is the only place in the world where this rift is above sea-level, and nowhere can you see the edges of both plates as clearly as in Þingvellir.
Iceland Trip Þingvellir National Park November 2023
This National Park is an important part of Iceland. In 930 AD, over thirty ruling chiefs met for the first time to discuss law on the island and to create a commonwealth. These early Icelanders did was create a crude version of a modern-day representative parliament. The meeting was such a success that the chiefs returned each following year. The institution, called the Alþingi, developed to be a place where disputes were settled, where distant relations could share their annual news, and where criminals were tried and punished.
Because of its history, Þingvellir became a National Park in 1930, a millennium after the Alþingi’s establishment. In 2004, it was accepted as part of the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The park is important geographically too. Iceland is divided by the Mid-Atlantic Rift; some parts of it, such as the Westfjords and Reyjavík, are on the North American tectonic plate, while others, such as Vatnajökull glacier and the East Fjords, are on the Eurasian plate. Iceland is the only place in the world where this rift is above sea-level, and nowhere can you see the edges of both plates as clearly as in Þingvellir.