Brattahlíð

Brattahlið (. Well Brattahlid, Old Norse for " steep slope " ) located near the town of Greenland Narsarsuaq; the present name is Qassiarsuk.

Brattahlið is archaeologically interesting because there the foundations of the first Christian church were uncovered in Greenland. This is thanks to the efforts of Þjóðhildur, the wife of Erik the Red to have been built in 1000, the year. According to tradition, converted Erik the Red, who was originally not a Christian, his wife, according to the desire on his deathbed to Christianity.

Near the church foundations remains of a longhouse were found. The building was 53 m long, 14 m wide and had Torfwände that were up to 1.5 m thick.

The surroundings of Brattahlið is still considered to be one of the most productive agricultural land in Greenland. Brattahlið is, from the cold and foggy weather on the coast protected, in the innermost part of the Erik fjord.

Near Brattahlið there was the first Thing - place in Greenland. Similar to the Icelandic Althing were held here and talked meetings law.

Erik the Red was exiled from Iceland Thing in and went to the open sea to discover new land. He came to Greenland and sailed into a fjord, which he named Erik fjord. He wintered several times on a small island. Then he drove in defiance of the ban back to Iceland and attracted around 1,000 people to come with him. The emigrants built longhouses in Greenland and living from livestock and hunting caribou, seals and walruses. The influx of emigrants continued. As in 1002 settlers brought an epidemic in the village, ill even Erik the Red, and died 1003. Colony of the Greenlanders could recover from the epidemic and reached a maximum population of 5,000 inhabitants. Possibly due to a worsening climate ( Little Ice Age ) broke the connection to Europe from the early 15th century, and the colony was under the end of the century.

Places in America Furdustrandir | Hóp | Helluland | Hvitramannaland | Kjalar - nes | Leifsbudir | Markland | Straums -ey | Straumsfjordr | Vinland

Sagas Erik Saga | Grænlendinga saga

Grænlendingarsiedlungen and landscapes in Greenland Ostsiedlung Brattahlið | Garðar | Hvalsey Western Estate Norðrsetur