Bessastaðir
Bessastaðir is a manor house in the Icelandic community Gardabær (until 2012 Álftanes ) a few kilometers south-west of Reykjavík. It is now used as the official residence of the President of Iceland.
- 2.1 Main building Bessastaðastofa
- 2.2 Church
History
Early colonization
The area around Bessastaðir likely to have been first settled before the year 1000. Presumably, it was the official first settlers of Iceland Ingólfur Arnarson, the laid claim to the land.
In the Middle Ages
In the 13th century it had Snorri Sturluson a courtyard. Documents can be this with the mention in the Íslendinga saga of his nephew Sturla Þórðarson. The medieval manor fell to the king of Norway after the death of Snorri in 1241. Bessastaðir was subsequently registered office of the representative of the King ( first King of Norway, and later the Danish ) and remained so until the end of the 18th century.
High School
1805, the then only secondary school in the country under the name Lærði Skólinn was ( engl. the grammar school ) in Bessastaðir, founded after the resignation of her predecessor, the Hólavallarskóli.
She was 40 years at this point, but was moved in 1846 back to Reykjavík. So there finally emerged the secondary Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík, which is still in the city center of the capital is located.
More owners
1867 was the possession of the property of the writer Grímur Thomsen ( 1820-1896 ), who lived here for two decades.
Later owners were Skúli Thoroddsen and his wife Theodóra Thoroddsen.
1940, the farm was purchased by Sigurdur Jónasson and later donated to the Icelandic State.
Präsidialsitz
Since 1944, it houses the seat of the President.
The first of these presidents, Sveinn Björnsson (1881-1952), had here, strictly speaking, starting in 1941, his residence. At this time he was not yet president, but Prime Minister of the former Icelandic government before independence from Denmark. This was done by referendum until 1944.
Currently (July 2011) resides here in 4 Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson tenure. He was first elected in 1996 for a four year term, re-elected in 2000 and 2004 and 2008 remained in need of a rival candidate automatically in office.
Building in Bessastaðir
On the site there are several buildings, including a small church.
Main building Bessastaðastofa
In the years 1761 to 1766 the present main building for the bailiff Magnús Gíslason was built.
It served until 1989 as a residential and office building. 1989 has been thoroughly renovated and modernized, which was taken under the presidency of Vigdís Finnbogadóttir in attack, and has since 1990 only the latter function.
Church
As with manors usually the case, was located since the Middle Ages, a private church in Bessastaðir. This now belongs to the municipality of Gardabær ( Garðasókn or Garðaprestkall ).
The current church was built in 1777 of stone. The floor plan is the work of Danish architect GD Anthon, who also designed the church on the island Viðey. As a result, the building was rebuilt many times, most recently in the late 1940s.
In the publicly accessible church, there are a pulpit and a cross of masons Ríkarður Jónsson, an altarpiece of the painter Guðmundur Thorsteinsson and stained glass windows, the artist Guðmundar Einarsson frá Miðdal and Finnur Jónsson, which were installed later in 1956. Similar to the Cathedral of Akureyri partially scenes from the history of the Church of Iceland are also represented here again.
Overview of the Icelandic president with whose term of office
- Sveinn Björnsson (1881-1952), President 1944-1952
- Ásgeir Ásgeirsson (1894-1972), President 1952-1968
- Kristján Eldjárn (1916-1982), President 1968-1980
- Vigdís Finnbogadóttir ( born 1930 ), President 1980-1996
- Ólafur Ragnar Grimsson (born 1943 ), President since 1996