Hvalsey Church Ruins
Qaqortukulooq
Greenland's best-preserved Norse site. A stone church stands on the fjord shore, and the wedding recorded here in 1408 is the last written record of the Viking settlers in Greenland.
Hvalsey (Greenlandic: Qaqortukulooq) lies on a fjord shore about 19 km northeast of Qaqortoq. It forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Kujataa: Norse and Inuit Farming Landscape at the Edge of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The stone church, built in the early 14th century, has nearly complete walls about 5 m high. Around it are the remains of a great hall, storehouses, cattle barns and other farm ruins. Historical records describe a wedding held here in 1408. After that, the Norse Greenlanders vanish from the written sources, making this one of the famous mysteries of Nordic history. The site can only be reached by boat. Qaqortoq offers half-day boat tours, with a guide and a trip of about 1 hour each way. In summer you often encounter drift ice in the fjord. There are no facilities at the site, so bring a windproof, waterproof jacket and an insect net.
Opening hours
Boat tours approx. Jun–Sep; site open all day
Nearby sights
- Lake Tasersuaq Hike
- Qaqortoq Museum
- Mindebrønden Fountain
- Narsaq
- Stone & Man Sculptures
- Church of Our Saviour
- Igaliku
- Brattahlíð (Qassiarsuk)