Brattahlíð Open Air Museum
Brattahlid is the 10th-century Norse estate of Erik the Red, established around 985 AD at the head of Tunulliarfik Fjord in South Greenland and now marked by the small sheep-farming village of Qassiarsuk. It was the chieftain's seat of the Eastern Settlement, the main Norse colony in Greenland, and the home from which Erik's son Leif Eriksson sailed west to become the first European to land in North America. A reconstructed Viking longhouse and a replica of Tjodhilde's Chapel, believed to be the first Christian church built in the Americas, stand near the original ruins. The site is part of the Kujataa UNESCO World Heritage Site, designated in 2017.
The Farm Where Erik the Red Built Greenland's First Colony, and Leif Eriksson Set Sail for America
Erik the Red arrived in Greenland in approximately 985 AD after being exiled from Iceland, and established his main farm at the sheltered head of the fjord he named Eriksfjord, now called Tunulliarfik. He called the farm Brattahlid, meaning steep slope, and it became the administrative and social centre of the Eastern Settlement, the larger of the two Norse colonies in Greenland that would together sustain a population of several thousand people for nearly 500 years. Archaeological excavations at the site, now the village of Qassiarsuk, have revealed the foundations of longhouses, farm buildings, and a small cemetery. Ninety-eight silver coins discovered in the churchyard in 1863, known as the Sandur Hoard, are among the most significant finds from the Norse Greenlandic period. The site forms part of the Kujataa UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised in 2017 for its Norse and Inuit farming heritage.
Two figures from Brattahlid reshaped the known world. Leif Eriksson, Erik's son, sailed west from here around 1000 AD and made landfall in North America, which he called Vinland, becoming the first European to reach the continent approximately 500 years before Columbus. His mother Tjodhilde, who had converted to Christianity, built a small turf church at Brattahlid, siting it deliberately some distance from the main farmstead to avoid antagonising Erik, who refused to convert. This chapel, known as Tjodhilde's Church, is considered the first Christian church built in the Americas. The original foundations were identified during excavations in 1961 after a school construction project unearthed a cemetery of around 150 individuals buried around a small turf structure. A reconstruction of the chapel and of Erik's longhouse were completed in 2000 and are open to visitors.
Brattahlid is reached by boat or helicopter from Narsarsuaq, the nearest settlement with an airport, a crossing of around 30 to 40 minutes by small boat across Tunulliarfik Fjord. Narsarsuaq has a small airport with connections to Copenhagen and Reykjavík. Qassiarsuk has limited accommodation including a small guesthouse, and the area is also accessible as part of multi-day guided tours of South Greenland. The surrounding fjord landscape, with sheep farms clinging to the lower slopes and the Greenland ice sheet visible above, gives the site an atmosphere that is genuinely unlike anywhere else in the North Atlantic world.
