Basilica Cathedral of Christ Rey of Landakot (Reikiavik)
On the hill of Landakot, west of Reikiavik, the only Catholic cathedral of Iceland, dedicated to Christ the King, rises. A neo-Gothic work by the Icelandic architect Guðjón Samúelsson was consecrated on July 23, 1929, when he was the largest church in the country, and in 2000 he received the title of basilica during the celebration of the millennial of Christianity in Iceland. Although its headline is Christ the King, it keeps a unique Marian treasure: the medieval image called Reykhola-Mary.
🌹 Wonders and anecdotes
- The land of Landakot was bought in the early 19th century by French priests Bernard and Baudoin, the first Catholics who returned to Iceland after the Reformation; to the chapel of 1864 and a small wooden church followed, after the First World War, the present cathedral consecrated on July 23, 1929, when the Catholic community had only about 130 faithful.
- Its neo-Gothic profile of a flat tower, without a needle, is the work of Guðjón Samúelsson, the same architect of Hallgrímskirkja; in 2000, in the celebration of the thousand years of Christianity in Iceland, the temple received the dignity of basilica.
- The Reykhola-Mary is an Icelandic wood size of the Virgin with the Child that is believed to be of the 14th century; after the Reformation it was preserved on a farm in Reykholar, it was donated to the Catholic Church in 1926 and John Paul II crowned it during his visit to Iceland in 1989.
- On January 24, 2023, the cathedral was blessed by the new Marian corner called Maríugerði, which welcomes the image of the Reykhola-Mary by the entrance; the temple is welcomed to the protection of the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and the Icelandic saints Torlaco and Jon Ögmundarson, and one of its three bells is dedicated to Our Lady.
Cristo Rey (Landakot)
The Landakot Cathedral, dedicated to Christ the King, is the Catholic heart of Iceland. Under its neo-Gothic vaults, the old size of the Reykhola-Mary, crowned by John Paul II, recalls that devotion to the Mother of God survived centuries of silence on the island.
"Virgin Mary, Mother of the King of the Universe, keeps the faith of Iceland as you kept your people in the centuries of silence.
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