Árbær Open Air Museum

Árbær Open Air Museum at Kistuhylur 4 in the Árbær district of eastern Reykjavik is a collection of historic buildings that were moved or reconstructed on the site of the old Árbær farm. The farm is recorded from the 16th century, and the museum was established in the 1950s after the farm's last resident left, with the city taking over the property and later transferring buildings from the centre of Reykjavik that were threatened with demolition. Today the collection includes about 20 buildings arranged as a small village, showing urban and rural architecture from the 18th to the 20th century. The central Árbær farmhouse, with its turf-roofed rooms linked by a passage, shows how families lived in traditional Icelandic turf houses, which used turf, stone, and driftwood to cope with the climate. Other buildings include a church moved from Silfrastaðir in Skagafjörður and townhouses with workshops and shops from central Reykjavik, such as a harbour-front building and a merchant's premises. The curatorial approach is immersive: buildings are furnished to period, with interpreters in historic dress demonstrating crafts and traditional activities during the summer, and exhibits grouped thematically by trade and household life. The collections also contain tools, textiles, and household objects. Many of the buildings required careful conservation, particularly the turf roofs, which need regular renewal, and the museum maintains them with traditional methods. It is run by the Reykjavik City Museum (Borgarsögusafn) and offers guided tours in the summer season. The site is on a green, open hillside and is easy to combine with a walk by the nearby Elliðaár river valley. A visit gives context to the earlier settlement history shown at the Settlement Exhibition in the centre and illustrates how the capital grew from small farms to a modern city.