Nanortalik

Nanortalik is the southernmost town in Greenland, its name meaning the place of polar bears, which arrive on the drift ice in some years. It has around a thousand people and an unusually good open-air museum: a quarter of the old colonial harbour kept with its timber and turf buildings, including a store, a smithy and a Greenlandic turf house, laid out as it was. The town is the base for Tasermiut and the southern fjords.

History

Its position made the area one of the first parts of Greenland settled by the Norse and one of the last settled by the Inuit. The town was founded in 1770 as Nennortalik, traders from Julianehåb set up a permanent trading depot in 1797, and because of the poor harbour the town moved three kilometres north in 1830, leaving only scattered ruins of the old site (Wikipedia, Nanortalik).

What's there

• The open-air museum - the old harbour quarter kept with its original buildings.
• The turf house - the traditional Greenlandic dwelling in the museum quarter.
• The polar bear name - the animals that arrive on drift ice in some years.
• The fjord access - the base for Tasermiut and the southern fjords.

When to go

June to September is the season. Drift ice can close the harbour even in summer. Winter connections are very limited.

Things to know

Drift ice can block the harbour and strand people for days even in summer. Connections are by ferry and helicopter and both are weather dependent. Facilities are limited.

Nearby

Tasermiut is north, and Aappilattoq is southeast.

Key facts