For over a thousand years, Vikings have built houses with "green roofs"
Entire villages were built with stones and wood, covered with vegetation
When we think of Vikings, the first image that comes to mind is an army of fierce warriors wearing weapons and horned helmets. But did you know that these famous Scandinavians were also great builders of green roofs?
The photos we see are reenactments of sustainable Viking architecture practiced many centuries before the use of garden terraces in modern architecture or the sustainability parameters of the Leed certificate. Traditional buildings are located in L’Anse aux Meadows ("Cave of the Living Waters", in free translation) in the far north of the island of Newfoundland, Canada. The village is an archaeological site declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, which brings together some examples of how the cities of the Nordic people were formed.
L’Anse aux Meadows, which can almost go unnoticed in the eyes of an observer (due to its natural camouflage), was once a busy small citadel with eight buildings built by the Vikings about five centuries before the arrival of Christopher Columbus on the American continent. As the original buildings date back to a very ancient period, reconstructions were erected based on historical and archaeological studies, and traces found at the site. According to these surveys, the houses were made with local stones and wood and their roofs were covered with grassy vegetation, which served as a natural insulator.
Currently, the site is open to visitors and, inside the houses, objects used by the Vikings are displayed. Check out an advertisement for the tour.
