![]() In 1998 the coal mine closed down and everyone was told to leave – which they did in a hurry, thanks to a Russian boat docking at the harbour along with the announcement that it would leave in just three hours time. Unfortunately when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 it meant the coal industry was much less profitable, and Pyramiden quickly became redundant. After arriving with their families, they lived at the settlement for a two-year shift and enjoyed a pretty pleasant life: the town had a cinema, sports hall, school, nursery, music hall, library and hospital, and all these services were free of cost to everyone living here. For a period of seventy years, working as a coal miner in Pyramiden was a sought after opportunity: at the height of Soviet Union rule, their sole settlement in the West was a perfect platform to show off their country’s wealth to the rest of the world.Īt least 10,000 CVs were submitted each year, and only the best coal miners were eligible to work in Pyramiden. This patch of land was first established by Sweden in 1910, but Russia quickly bought it in 1926 in order to mine the pyramid-shaped mountain for its coal deposits. The story behind why Pyramiden was abandoned Our first stop is at the sign which welcomes visitors to Pyramiden in both Russian Cyrillic and English.Īs Sasha begins to speak in a soft voice about Pyramiden’s history, I look behind him to the triangular mountain which gives the settlement its name – and which caused the Russians to be here in the first place. The same rule applies throughout Svalbard: polar bears can and do attack people, and it’s a legal requirement to carry a rifle at all times. This is the Arctic, a wild terrain, and polar bears are a significant danger.” Sasha pointedly re-adjusts his rifle and says, “We are not playing around here. ![]() He may look slight, but he pulls no punches: as he approaches, a Polish tourist is joking about the safety messages we’d heard on the boat, saying that the danger of polar bears is totally overrated and we could easily walk to Pyramiden instead of waiting for the bus. Looking at the Russian cyrillic it’s my first realisation that, although we’re still on Norwegian landmass and I’ve never visited Russia before, we’re very much back in the USSR.Ī guide walks over to us and introduces himself as Sasha. I’m in the second half, watching as the first group sets off towards the Pyramiden settlement in a little minibus with a polar bear crest on its side. We stand on the pier as our boat group is split into two. Amongst the ghosts.Ī map of Pyramiden, Svalbard Meeting Sasha, our Pyramiden tour guide I’m more amazed by the handful of men who choose to keep living there still. People seem fascinated by the fact that Pyramiden is a ghost town. So when I realised that my Arctic expedition from Scotland to Svalbard would actually lead me straight to this surreal place, I could barely contain myself. Like many would-be urban explorers, the idea of exploring an entire town abandoned to the elements – and one that’s isolated at the very top of the world, no less – gave me goosebumps of the best variety. I’ve long harboured a desire to visit Pyramiden. I choose to hang back, watching the way they behave while warming my hands, red-raw with the Arctic cold, on the back of my neck. ![]() Our boat drops anchor and I watch as the hordes of tourists jump eagerly onto the rickety boardwalk before we’ve even properly docked cameras out immediately, as soon as their feet touch the creaking wood. Their stoicism is completely at odds with the pent-up energy of my fellow boat passengers, all itching to explore Pyramiden. ![]() Two Russian men in long dark trench coats stand waiting silently on the dock, with rifles slung across their chests. Ever since, the streets, buildings and once-loved possessions have been left to the Arctic elements.įrom the deck of our boat, my first glimpse of Pyramiden is like something out of a spy film. This is Pyramiden, a Russian coal-mining settlement which was hastily abandoned by its residents in 1998. It’s generally known as the northernmost town in the world: about a thousand people live and work here, despite its remote location above the Arctic Circle.īut there’s actually another place which deserves the ‘northernmost-everything’ accolade – except it’s virtually uninhabited. High up in the north of Norway in the Svalbard archipelago is a town called Longyearbyen. Welcome to Pyramiden, Svalbard: population 7
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