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985c. 985–1450 · Qassiarsuk (Brattahlíð), South Greenland

Norse Greenland

The roofless stone ruin of Hvalsey church on a grassy slope beside a Greenland fjord
Photo: Number 57. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Around 985 Erik the Red led settlers from Iceland to the fjords of south-west Greenland, where Norse farmers kept cattle and sheep, hunted walrus for ivory and built stone churches; from here voyages reached North America. Inuit of the Thule culture later moved south into the same region. The Norse farms were abandoned by about 1450, while the Inuit stayed, and Greenlandic farmers work the land today.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Brattahlíð, Erik the Red's farm, QassiarsukFarm ruins, a rebuilt turf church and longhouse.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Hvalsey church ruinBest-preserved Norse stone church, scene of the last recorded wedding in 1408.Map ↗
  3. Site 3: Garðar bishop's seat, IgalikuCathedral and farm ruins among a modern sheep-farming village.Map ↗

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