Stórnarraðið Íslands

On the left side of Bankastræti was Stórnarraðið Íslands, the government offices, with a statue of Ingólfur Arnarson sitting in a park nearby, on Arnorhóll hill. Stórnarraðið, a former prison, contained the prime minister’s offices. The other statues outside were of Hannes Hafstein (1861–1922), leader of the first home-rule government in 1904, and King Christian IX (reigned 1863-1906) presenting Iceland with its constitution. Across the hill was a 19th century building which once housed the National Library but was now home to the High Court. Most of the other buildings here were government ministries.Read more