| Summary: | What is so remarkable about historical places? Here we discuss six of them, all famous and uncontroversial: Bessastaði in Álftanes, Hóla in Hjaltadal, Odda in Rangárvöllur, Reykholt in Borgarfirði and Skálholt and Þingvelli in Árnes County. The history of these places is traced and an attempt is made to understand their roles. Our ideas about the six historic sites were shaped by the national romanticism of the 19th and 20th centuries, an admiration for a golden age. Nationalism was accompanied by hostility to foreign power and foreign influence in various forms. Although it has been nearly 80 years since the republic was founded, attitudes towards people, places and issues that arose during the struggle for independence still remain, where what is domestic and national are considered desirable, while most foreign and international things are undesirable. It is truly time for a thorough reassessment. It is to be expected that many people's attitudes will change after reading this book, in which general cultural history will be given more weight than distorted political history.
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