Nuuk Cathedral

Nuuk Cathedral (Greenlandic: Annaassisitta Oqaluffia) or Church of Our Saviour is a wooden Lutheran cathedral in the Old Nuuk neighborhood of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland. It was established in 1849. The red building with its spire is a prominent site on the landscape. During National Day celebrations, large crowds usually gather around the church.

History

The church was built from 1848 to 1849, and was consecrated on April 6, 1849. It was paid for in full by Karen Oersted’s Fund. When it was consecrated it became the church of Nuuk congregation, replacing the responsibilities of many older Nuuk churches, the oldest of which was from 1758.

Until May 6, 1993, the Cathedral of Copenhagen was also the Cathedral of Greenland, but when the Law of Greenland's Church and School became effective on May 6, 1993, the church officially became the Cathedral of Greenland. The first bishop of Greenland in 616 years was Kristian Mørk who was ordained in 1994, the previous bishop of Greenland was Álfur Last-Bishop in 1378. Mørk vacated the seat the next year, and 39-year-old Greenland native Sofie Petersen became bishop of Greenland. Petersen is the second woman to become a bishop in the Church of Denmark.

Nuuk

Nuuk (Greenlandic pronunciation: [nuːk]; Danish: Godthåb) is the capital and largest city of Greenland. It is the seat of government and the country's largest cultural and economic centre. The major cities closest to the capital are Iqaluit and St. John's in Canada and Reykjavík in Iceland. Nuuk is the seat of government for the Sermersooq municipality. In January 2015, it had a population of 16,992, making it one of the smallest capital cities in the world by population.

Nuuk is the Kalaallisut word for "cape". It is so named because of its position at the end of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord on the eastern shore of the Labrador Sea. Its latitude, at 64°10' N, makes it the world's northernmost capital, located only a few kilometres further north than the Icelandic capital Reykjavík.

History

The site has a long history of habitation. The area around Nuuk was first occupied by the ancient pre-Inuit, Paleo-Eskimo people of the Saqqaq culture as far back as 2200 BC when they lived in the area around the now abandoned settlement of Qoornoq. For a long time it was occupied by the Dorset culture around the former settlement of Kangeq but they disappeared from the Nuuk district before AD 1000. The Nuuk area was later inhabited by Viking explorers in the 10th century, and shortly thereafter by Inuit peoples. Inuit and Norsemen both lived with little interaction in this area from about 1000 until the disappearance of the Norse settlement for uncertain reasons during the 15th century.

Greenland

Greenland (Greenlandic: Kalaallit Nunaat [kaˈlaːɬit ˈnunaːt]; Danish: Grønland [ˈɡ̊ʁɶnˌlanˀ]) is an autonomous country within the Danish Realm, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe (specifically Norway and Denmark, the colonial powers, as well as the nearby island of Iceland) for more than a millennium. In 2008, the people of Greenland passed a referendum supporting greater autonomy; 75% of votes cast were in favour. Greenland is the world's largest island, over three-quarters of which is covered by the only permanent ice sheet outside of Antarctica. With a population of about 56,480 (2013), it is the least densely populated country in the world.

Greenland has been inhabited off and on for at least the last 4,500 years by Arctic peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada.Norsemen settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century, and Inuit peoples arrived in the 13th century. The Norse colonies disappeared in the late 15th century. In the early 18th century, Scandinavia and Greenland came back into contact with each other, and Denmark-Norway affirmed sovereignty over the island.