VIKING RUINS

Igaliku has important Viking remains formerly known as Garðar, the place of bishops for 250 years. The first of them would be the Norwegian Arnaldur, who arrived in 1126 to found an episcopal residence dedicated to Saint Nicholas (the patron saint of sailors). At that time it was the heart of Christianity in Greenland with a diocese and a cathedral. The site was the subject of archaeological research in the 1830s and was fully excavated in 1926 by archaeologist Poul Nørlund. The place of worship, centrally located between the houses and vegetable gardens, is the major remnant of the site and represents a cross-shaped church built in sandstone in the 12th century. It was the largest church in Greenland in the Middle Ages and several of the rooms in the Bishop's Palace could accommodate several hundred people. A true journey through 1000 years of time! Other remains consist of the stone foundations of walls in their original position so that it is possible to understand the extent of the colony, and to distinguish between individual and collective buildings, including 2 barns that could accommodate up to 160 cows. The same well (located in a small blue hut) is still used by the current population. More than 40 ruins around Igaliku have been identified as part of the Garðar archaeological complex. The diocese of Greenland would have disappeared in the 15th century when the departures of ships from Norway ceased.