Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
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Iceland Travel GuideLOCAL TRAVEL AGENCY IN ICELAND
My trip
Talk to a local
Kirkjugólf (“the church floor”) is a small pavement of hexagonal basalt columns, about 80 square metres in size, just outside the village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur on Iceland’s South Coast. It is free to visit, open all year, reached by a short walk from the car park, and most people need 15–20 minutes. Kirkjubæjarklaustur is around 3 hours 20 minutes by car from Reykjavík.
From above, Kirkjugólf looks like a floor laid by a stonemason. The tops of the basalt columns sit flush with the ground and fit together like tiles, most of them with six sides, though you can also find five, seven and eight-sided ones. The whole pavement covers about 80 square metres and is surrounded by grass and low vegetation.
It is a small stop, not a big attraction, and that is part of its charm. There is no building, no path network and no crowd. You walk up, look closely at the stone, and take a few photos. It fits well with a walk around Kirkjubæjarklaustur, together with Systrafoss waterfall and the nearby canyon and lava fields.
The honeycomb pattern has inspired more than one Icelandic artist, and it is easy to see why: black stone, green grass and an open sky make a simple, strong picture. Few visitors stay long, so it is also a calm place to sit for a while. The site has been protected as a natural monument since 1987.
No church ever stood here. Earlier visitors took the pattern for the floor of an old building, and one idea was that it had been built by Irish hermits who lived in Iceland before the Norse settlers. Later study showed it is natural. Lava cooled and contracted, cracking into columns, and the tops were worn flat when the sea covered the land at the end of the Ice Age.
The name still points to the area’s religious history. A Benedictine convent for women was founded at Kirkjubær in 1186, and the village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur (“the convent at Kirkjubær”) grew up on the same spot.
The Ring Road is paved and open all year, but in winter it can be icy and windy, and it is sometimes closed briefly in storms. Check umferdin.is and vedur.is before you drive.
Kirkjugólf takes a quarter of an hour, so pair it with one or two of the other stops around Kirkjubæjarklaustur.
There are no facilities at Kirkjugólf itself. Kirkjubæjarklaustur has a fuel station, shops, cafés and a swimming pool.
Kirkjubæjarklaustur has guesthouses, a hotel, self-catering cottages and a campsite. It is a good overnight stop between the Vík area and Skaftafell or Höfn.
Yes. There is no entrance fee and the site is open all year.
About 15–20 minutes, including the short walk from the car park.
No. It is a natural formation of basalt columns. The name comes from its resemblance to a paved floor.
On Road 203, just off the Ring Road at the village of Kirkjubæjarklaustur in South Iceland, about 260 km and around 3 hours 20 minutes by car from Reykjavík.
No. The nearest are in Kirkjubæjarklaustur village.
From the roundabout at Kirkjubæjarklaustur, follow the sign for Geirland onto Road 203 and look for the gate, sign and small car park beside the road. The stones are a few minutes' walk across the field.
