Qaqortoq is the largest city in Southern Greenland with 3,300 inhabitants. The town rises steeply above the natural small-boat harbor with its fish, shrimp and fur processing plants. It was founded in 1775 by the Dano-Norwegian trader Anders Olsen, working on behalf of the General Trading Company.
Qaqortoq is best known for its open-air art exhibition. The Stone & Man project, designed to transform the town into an outdoor gallery, had the participation of 18 Nordic artists from Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Greenland. Initially 24 stone sculptures were created using the existing rock faces and boulders in the town. Now there are over 40 sculptures celebrating Greenlandic culture.
Other points of interest include Mindebrønden, the oldest fountain in Greenland, the Qaqortoq Museum and The Saviors Lutheran Church. Eighteen kilometers northwest of town are the famous remains of the Viking church of Hvalsey. It represents the last written record of the Greenlandic Norse, who attended a wedding there in A.D. 1408. Hvalsey is the most prominent Norse site in Greenland.
