About the farm

The meticulously built Commonwealth Farm is a replica of the former manor farm, Stöng in Þjórsárdalur and designed to provide historical insight into everyday life during the period. The reconstruction is based on archaeological remains, historical descriptions in literary sources and comparisons with other similar medieval dwellings. A blend of imagination and historical information transport you to another age.

The Farm

The Commonwealth Farm was built in 1974 to celebrate the 1100th anniversary of Icelandic settlement and was formally opened in 1977.
The size, location, and layout of the ruins discovered at Stöng were used to create the Commonwealth Farm. Close attention was paid to the interior, including the platforms, benches, chambers, floor slabs, hearths, doors, and large vats in the ground.

Other sources of data, pieced together to recreate the farmstead, included remnants of ancient Icelandic carpentry, building remains from medieval settlements in Greenland, building descriptions in ancient Icelandic manuscripts and Nordic stave construction.

House of prayer

A typical Icelandic house of prayer from the Middle Ages is located next to the Farm. The replica is primarily based on the ruins of a small church or house of prayer discovered during various archaeological excavations at Stöng in 1986, 1992 and 1993. The ruin is believed to date back to the 11th century.
The replica church was initially set up in the National Museum of Iceland in 1997 for a church art exhibition. The church was rebuilt next to the farm in Þjórsárdalur on the 1000th anniversary of Christianity in Iceland. The church is open to all vistors.