What are cultural monuments?

We are constantly surrounded by cultural monuments. Some of them we can see, whereas others are invisible to the naked eye. Cultural monuments tell us about the cultural and architectural history of Greenland. Conservation legislation makes it possible to protect and preserve not only our own history and identity, but the history of humankind for the present and posterity. 

Cultural monuments include immovable ancient monuments, buildings and cultural-historical areas.

Immovable ancient monuments are the physical traces of human activity in the past, but also cover the context in which these traces were made.

Buildings are the most visible evidence of our cultural heritage, providing information about Greenland’s cultural and architectural history over time considered to be of either national or regional importance.

Another element of the conservation of cultural monuments covers the links between a series of cultural monuments or an area connected to specific events.

Within these three areas there are two kinds of conservation listings:

• Facultative listings, determined by the site being considered to be of specific value.
• De facto listings of all historical monuments that are more than 100 years old.