the church |
I went the Isafjordur for the exact purpose of visiting the Culture House. Nothing more. Nothing less. The Culture House – which is really a library, was exactly what I needed to complete my golden trio of objectives in Iceland: visit a cemetery, grocery store, and library.
Having already been to a grocery store and cemetery
in Reykjavik on my last trip in 2011, all I wanted to do is Isafjordur was
visit that glorious library.
After a long multi-method journey from our apartment
Reykjavik the shuttle from Isafjordur airport pulled into the sitting and I
began walking towards the library.
Being a cemetery enthusiast,
one can only imagine my joy when I saw that a cemetery was right beside the
library. Never have I seen such convenience. My two favorite things – side by side.
Cemeteries are usually kept on the edges of town and quite
difficult to get to and find. I was so thrilled that I would get o experience
another Icelandic cemetery, and one much more modern that Hólavallagarður.
Hólavallagarður
was old and green and moss-covered. Ísafjarðarkirkja - which is the name of the church attached to
the cemetery, was modern, sparse, and snow covered. It had also been a secret
dream of mine to photograph a cemetery in the snow, so Ísafjarðarkirkja allowed me to check that off
my list as well.
The gate is designed with a motif of an anchor, an ode to this
fishing town.
The tombstones spanned in age from the 1900s to present day.
Despite the hundred-year-age difference, the graves in the cemetery appeared
fairly uniform, and there were no noticeable aesthetic differences between
them.
One similarity with Hólavallagarður
was the gates that surrounded a few plots. Though they were not green and
moss-covered, they were rusted and charming.
I was also struck by the prevalence of the cross motif in
this cemetery, where the graves were typically simple and geometric.
I was surprised to find this cemetery in such a central
location in town and I am pleased to be able to complement my cemetery
experience in Hólavallagarður
with this very different site in Ísafjarðarkirkja.
No comments:
Post a Comment