VIKING RUINS

Although Narsaq was founded in 1860 as a trading post administered by Qaqortoq, the site had been chosen long before by the Vikings. Some historians even claim that this is where the first Viking camp of Erik the Red was established. This is why the official commemoration of the 1000th anniversary of the arrival of the Norsemen in Greenland was celebrated in 1982 in Narsaq (and not in Qassiarsuk). Viking remains are swarming in the vicinity, including a ruin that was accidentally found in the 1960s, next to the slaughterhouse, when the plant manager was simply doing his gardening! The archaeologists finally uncovered a complete house in the city centre. The latter was so well preserved that it allowed researchers to find more clues about how the Vikings lived. Other sites are located under the city's cemetery, and much of it was actually built using the stones from this place! A chimney, a pot and several stone tools were found in the 1990s, but the fragility of the site prevents further research.

Outside Narsaq, on the northwestern periphery are the ruins of the church of Dyrnæs, to the west the Landnám farm and Landnamsgaarden. It dates back to the year 1000 and is one of the oldest Scandinavian ruins in the region. In a wider area accessible by boat, the ruins of Qassiarsuk and Igaliku are also exceptional.