Qaqortoq, in the south of Greenland is the fourth largest town in the country, with a population of something over 3000. The area has been continuously inhabited for over 4000 years, with the current settlement dating from the late eighteenth century. It's an attractive town, especially as we were there on a warm, sunny Sunday, when the townspeople were out and about, enjoying themselves.
We arrived in the early morning in the bay with a misty view of the town, the icecap and a berg.
As the mist lifted, the familiar bright panorama as revealed.
Qaqortoq is the home town of the childcare worker I spoke in
Maniitsoq. She extolled its attractiveness and abundance of flowers. She spoke the truth - there are many flowers, an attractive river, and - rather like
Tasiilaq - valley of flowers leading out of the town to a lake.
The town has the familiar white New Church on top of a hill and the red Old Church, with its adjacent chapel of rest:
The
memorial stone (above, centre; not actually a tombstone) commemorates
Hans Egede and his wife
Gertrud Rask. They were pioneer Lutheran missionaries to Greenland, and mentions of Egede turn up everywhere in the country. There is a memorial
statue of him in Nuuk, and his son's house is one of the buildings now forming the
museum in Sisimiut.
The appearance of the town is an attractive and well-kept version of the familiar pattern:
And some of the people follow the Scandinavian custom of flying the national flag on their home on special occasions.
Uniquely among the towns we visited, Qaqortoq has a town square, and the first ever fountain in Greenland (for a long time it was the only fountain, but there is, apparently, now also one in Sisimiut). It created a very different 'feel' for the town to have a physical centre - I had really noticed the absence of this elsewhere, and on a sunny Sunday it gradually filled up with families, children playing, teenagers eating ice creams . . . and our group of tourists taking photos!
Surrounding the square are the old church, the museum, the tourist centre, the street market and the attractive and busy harbour:
The museum has a well presented historical collection and display, but also two large rooms given over to contemporary Greenlandic art:
Qaqortoq seems to be promoting itself energetically as a tourist destination, building on its position and climate. It has a warm summer climate, hot springs, and wilderness country for hiking; it is easily accessible to ships traversing Cape Farewell from the east, as well as being simple to reach from the east coast of Canada and the north east of the USA. It has also turned itself into an open-air gallery, with a
town trail of stone carvings into the bare rock, created by a wide group of Nordic artists. The trail guide, if followed completely, takes in all areas of the town as well as sites out in the surrounding countryside. Here are just a few from the town centre:
And a bench overlooking the harbour, another art work as well as a comfortable and scenic place to sit:
The three female figures 'embracing' the footrests are each slightly different and individual. They remind me somewhat of the
Sheela Na Gig sculptures found in Europe, especially in Ireland and parts of Britain, as well as in significant numbers in Norway.
Two other buildings in the town caught my eye. The tourist offering does not consist solely of high culture!
And I was intrigued by this. The sign on the house reads Vatikanbakken, which is Danish for Vatican Hill. Why would a house in Qaqortoq be named like this? The story seems to be this:
In the vicinity of Qaqortoq is
Hvalsey Church, the best preserved ruin in the country. The final extant account of the Norse population of Greenland came from there, via a wedding described in the Vatican Annals of 1408. After that account, no further written record exists, and we are left with the mystery of what became of the Viking population in Greenland.
Qaqortoq was our final call in Greenland, and it was a delightful end to this part of our trip, especiallly after our cold, wet dismal-looking day in Nuuk; here was an attractive, varied and interesting town, in lovely warm, sunny weather, with a friendly and welcoming population.
We left in the evening to round Cape Farewell going eastwards, and then head north east for two days towards Reykjavik, our last call of the whole trip. We really were, at this point, homeward bound.
No comments:
Post a Comment