Tales of the Table · Tales of the Table
Hótel Valhöll (1898–2009) – Lost Tables
Valhöll opened on 20 August 1898 as a timber guesthouse and meeting hall at Þingvellir, the realisation of an idea Benedikt Sveinsson had promoted since the 1860s. It hosted the royal visits of 1907 and 1921, and in 1929 the whole building was moved across the ice to a new site below Almannagjá and
Valhöll opened on 20 August 1898 as a timber guesthouse and meeting hall at Þingvellir, the realisation of an idea Benedikt Sveinsson had promoted since the 1860s. It hosted the royal visits of 1907 and 1921, and in 1929 the whole building was moved across the ice to a new site below Almannagjá and redesigned by Guðjón Samúelsson ahead of the 1930 Alþingi millennium festival, when a large dining hall and kitchen were added. By 1940 it was a popular weekend destination with dances on Saturday nights, and it later grew with new wings in 1963 and 1974–76. The state bought it in 2002, and on 10 July 2009 the hotel was destroyed by fire.
The hotel was not rebuilt; the site lies within Þingvellir National Park
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