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Old photos of Reykjavik

158 photographs of Reykjavik, from 1880 to 2025 — each pinned to the exact place it was taken.

Reykjavik center in 1911 — Pósthússtræti and Austurvöllur, Reykjavík 1911 Reykjavik center in 2025 — Dómkirkjan í Reykjavík 2025
Then and now: Reykjavik center, 1911 vs 2025
Have an old photo of Reykjavik? A family album, a postcard, a print from the attic. Pin it to the map and it becomes part of the record.
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What the photos show

The 158 photographs of Reykjavik on PlaceWas span 10 decades, from 1880 to 2025. 43 of them were taken before 1980; the other 115 are recent views of the same streets and landmarks.18 spots were photographed more than once, so you can compare the same street, square or building across the years.158 of the photos carry a written caption explaining what is in the frame. Every picture is pinned to the place it was taken, so the map below shows where the photographers stood.

Pick a decade to filter the photos below and the map above. Open full map ↗

Places in Reykjavik through time

Spots photographed more than once — compare the same place across the years.

Hótel Reykjavik Centrum, Reykjavik — photos through time
Hótel Reykjavik Centrum 35 photos · 1880–2013
Reykjavik center, Reykjavik — photos through time
Reykjavik center 32 photos · 1911–2025
Thor's Hammer, Reykjavik — photos through time
Thor's Hammer 20 photos · 1976–2025
Fríkirkjan Reykjavík, Reykjavik — photos through time
Fríkirkjan Reykjavík 9 photos · 2010–2025
Skuli Magnusson, Reykjavik — photos through time
Skuli Magnusson 7 photos · 1976–2016
Reykjavík Tjarnargata 18, Reykjavik — photos through time
Reykjavík Tjarnargata 18 6 photos · 2015–2023
雷克雅未克市政厅旁边的Vonarstræti 大街, Reykjavik — photos through time
雷克雅未克市政厅旁边的Vonarstræti 大街 6 photos · 2009–2025
Austurvöllur tree, Reykjavik — photos through time
Austurvöllur tree 5 photos · 2009–2023
Iceland October, Reykjavik — photos through time
Iceland October 5 photos · 2007–2017
池湖 Lake Tjörnin, Reykjavik — photos through time
池湖 Lake Tjörnin 4 photos · 2009–2019
Church of Hallgrímur - Reykjavík - Iceland - HDR, Reykjavik — photos through time
Church of Hallgrímur - Reykjavík - Iceland - HDR 3 photos · 2010–2025
Iceland Althingi, Reykjavik — photos through time
Iceland Althingi 3 photos · 1930–2017
Reykjavík - Austurstræti, Reykjavik — photos through time
Reykjavík - Austurstræti 3 photos · 2014–2017
Church Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik — photos through time
Church Hallgrímskirkja 2 photos · 2013–2015
Hallgrimskirkja in Black, Reykjavík, Reykjavik — photos through time
Hallgrimskirkja in Black, Reykjavík 2 photos · 2007–2008
Kvennaheimilið Hallveigarstaðir, Reykjavik — photos through time
Kvennaheimilið Hallveigarstaðir 2 photos · 2015–2018
Downtown, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland, Reykjavik — photos through time
Downtown, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland 2 photos · 2014–2019
Reykjavík - Suðurgata 8, Reykjavik — photos through time
Reykjavík - Suðurgata 8 2 photos · 2017

Stories from Reykjavik

What contributors wrote about these photographs.

EU: Reykjavik. Hallgrims Church (Hallgrímskirkja) (1937/1943, Weihe 1986; G. Samúelsson). View through the nave towards the organ (1992; Johannes Klais Orgelbau) (1992), Reykjavik, 1992
EU: Reykjavik. Hallgrims Church (Hallgrímskirkja) (1937/1943, Weihe 1986; G. Samúelsson). View through the nave towards the organ (1992; Johannes Klais Orgelbau) (1992) 1992 The nave of Hallgrimskirkja in Reykjavik is seen looking toward its organ in this 1992 photograph. Designed by architect Gudjon Samuelsson and consecrated in 1986, the church acquired the pipe organ, built by the German…
Thor's Hammer, Reykjavik, 2007
Thor's Hammer 2007 A building known as "Thor's Hammer" (Þórshamar) at Templarasund 5 in central Reykjavik, Iceland. The building sits in the old town near the harbor, in one of Reykjavik's earliest developed districts, close to the…
Hallgrimskirkja in Black, Reykjavík, Reykjavik, 2008
Hallgrimskirkja in Black, Reykjavík 2008 Hallgrímskirkja, designed by architect Guðjón Samúelsson and completed in 1986, is Reykjavík's largest church at roughly 74.5 meters tall. This 2008 photograph shows the Lutheran church, whose columnar concrete facade…
The Free Church in Reykjavík, Reykjavik, 2013
The Free Church in Reykjavík 2013 Frikirkjan, Reykjavik's Free Church, is an independent Lutheran congregation's timber church built in 1903 beside the Tjornin pond in the city centre, one of several distinctive churches that shaped the Icelandic…
Iceland Althingi, Reykjavik, 2016
Iceland Althingi 2016 Iceland's Althingi, the national parliament, is shown here in August 2016 in Reykjavik. First convened at Thingvellir in 930 AD, it is considered one of the oldest surviving parliamentary institutions in the world; the…
Reykjavík - Kirkjustræti, Reykjavik, 2017
Reykjavík - Kirkjustræti 2017 A timber house at Kirkjustraeti in central Reykjavik, Iceland, photographed in 2017. The street sits near Austurvollur square in the city's old quarter, where surviving nineteenth- and early twentieth-century wooden and…
Reykjavík - Kirkjustræti, Reykjavik, 2017
Reykjavík - Kirkjustræti 2017 Another building along Kirkjustraeti in central Reykjavik, Iceland, captured in 2017. This short street in the old town runs close to the Icelandic parliament building and preserves the small-scale timber construction…
Reykjavík - Suðurgata 10, Reykjavik, 2017
Reykjavík - Suðurgata 10 2017 A house on Sudurgata in central Reykjavik, Iceland, photographed in 2017. The street runs along the edge of the old town near Tjornin lake and the National Cemetery, in an area lined with nineteenth- and early…
1880s · 1 photo
1890s · 1 photo
1910s · 8 photos
1930s · 16 photos
1940s · 6 photos
1970s · 11 photos
1990s · 2 photos
2000s · 20 photos · showing 12, all 20 on the map ↗
2010s · 73 photos · showing 12, all 73 on the map ↗
2020s · 20 photos · showing 12, all 20 on the map ↗