Reykholt Medieval Centre

Reykholt, in the Borgarfjörður district of West Iceland, was the home of Snorri Sturluson from 1206 until his assassination there in 1241, during the violent Sturlungaöld ('Age of the Sturlungs') civil war period. Snorri was Iceland's most influential medieval author and a powerful chieftain twice elected lawspeaker of the Althing; at Reykholt he is believed to have written the Prose Edda, a foundational source for Norse mythology, and Heimskringla, a history of the kings of Norway. The farmstead preserves Snorralaug, a stone-lined hot spring pool fed by a nearby geothermal source, which is documented in 13th-century sources and is one of the oldest man-made structures still visible in Iceland in roughly its original form. A stone-and-turf tunnel, partially excavated and now marked at ground level, is traditionally said to have connected Snorri's house to the pool. Archaeological excavations at Reykholt, conducted intermittently since the 1980s and more systematically since 2011, have uncovered the foundations of Snorri's farmhouse and later medieval structures, informing the exhibits at the adjoining Snorrastofa cultural centre. The site's modern church, built in 1996, replaced several earlier churches on the same location, reflecting the site's continuous use as a religious and cultural centre since the Middle Ages. The curatorial approach at Reykholt favours direct engagement with the physical remains—the pool, the tunnel markers, and open excavation areas—supplemented by interpretive panels and the indoor exhibition at Snorrastofa, rather than reconstructed period buildings.