Gardar Cathedral

Following the introduction of Christianity to Greenland at around the turn of the millennium, the religion became so powerful that a bishop was appointed in 1124, the young clergyman Arnald.

The impressive Episcopal residence, Gardar, was established shortly afterwards in the area known today as Igaliku, close to Narsarsuaq. The bishop was the country's biggest landowner, and it was probably bishop Arnald who was responsible for establishing a monastery and convent in South Greenland.



The ruins of the cathedral and the bishop's palace have been renovated during recent years and today make up an attractive relic of the Viking period in Greenland. The cathedral itself had dimensions of no less than 27 x 16 metres (88.5 x 52.5 feet), and was thus the biggest of all the churches in Greenland in the Middle Ages.



Today only the top of the foundations of the church and the bishop's palace can be seen. A full reconstruction of the buildings has not yet been carried out.