Hvalsey

Hvalsey, or Hvalsey Church Ruin, is a historic Norse site on the Hvalsey Peninsula in southern Greenland, near the town of Qaqortoq. The principal feature is the ruins of a stone church dating from the late 14th century, surrounded by the outlines of a medieval farmstead. The church ruin is one of the best-preserved Norse-era buildings in Greenland and, together with its surrounding foundations, provides insight into the layout and daily life of a Norse Greenland farm.

The site is part of the Greenlandic Norse settlement that stretched from the eastern settlement’s beginnings in the 10th century into the early 15th century. A notable historical record associated with Hvalsey Church is a wedding held there in 1408, documented in Icelandic annals. This event is often cited as one of the last well-documented moments of the Norse Greenland era, indicating that some communities persisted into the early 15th century.

The site has been studied by archaeologists since the 19th century and is protected as a cultural heritage site by Greenland authorities. It is a popular destination for visitors to southern Greenland, reachable from Qaqortoq by road or boat during the summer. The ruins, together with the farm remnants, illustrate the social and architectural aspects of Norse Greenland.