Pop-up card : buildings in Iceland
The Althing, Iceland’s parliament, is said to be the oldest democratic parliament in the world.
Founded around 930, the Althing was interrupted by Norwegian and Danish colonial rule, but resumed in the 19th century.
This pop-up card represents the building built in 1881 as the parliament house.
Iceland began as a settlement of Vikings, mainly from western Norway. Irish and Scots also crossed the sea as slaves.
The society was made up of farm households consisting of farmers, servants, and slaves as the basic unit, and they held community gatherings called Thing. There was no common law yet, as each person used the law of his or her country of origin.
In the 10th century, all land suitable for ranching was settled, and a common forum for the coordination of opinions among all islands became necessary.
An all-island assembly with judicial and legislative functions was then organized, and an Althing was held every June.
After the 13th century, it became a formality due to Norwegian and Danish rule and was banned in 1800.
However, with the growing desire for independence, it was revived in the mid-19th century. (A unicameral parliament in 1845 and a bicameral parliament since 1874.)
The current parliament building was built in 1881.
Another pop-up card is the Reykjavik Cathedral.
The former cathedral, built in 1787, was apparently rebuilt in the 19th century, but a search on the Internet revealed different things on different sites, so I was not sure of the exact details.
However, the cathedral has “ANNO 1847” inscribed on the front of the cathedral, so this must be the year of completion.
The cathedral and the parliament building stand next to each other.
The parliamentary session begins with a mass in the cathedral where the members of parliament gather. After that, they move to the parliament building led by a priest, which is said to be a tradition.
I updated the main website.
This time, the pattern of Reykjavik Cathedral is available to be download, if you would like to see it.