Preserved Buildings

Greenlandic building culture is a visible part of the country's cultural heritage. Nationally, there are a total of 150 preserved buildings and approximately over 350 buildings that are considered to have preservation value.

The difference between a preserved building and a preservation-worthy building is that preserved buildings have special architectural or cultural-historical qualities that tell about significant periods in the country's history and therefore have national importance. Therefore, permission must be sought from the Greenland National Museum & Archives for building work, both externally and internally.

Preservation-worthy buildings can similarly tell about building customs, architecture, and cultural history, but on a local level. A preservation order applies to all or part of the building, outside as well as inside, whereas a designation as preservation-worthy only applies to the exterior of the building.

Here on these pages, you can read more about what is preserved, the history of building preservation and conservation, preservation-worthy buildings, and upcoming plans for the preservation review in Greenland.

You can download the overview of all preserved buildings in Greenland 2024, here.