Pyramid is a mothballed Russian village on Spitsbergen. Until 1998, this was the site of the world's northernmost coal mine. After many years of operation, it was closed due to a combination of circumstances: a fire in the mine and the difficulty of extinguishing it, the default of 1998, small remaining coal reserves, and in connection with all this, the unprofitability of restoration work.
“Mothballed,” as opposed to “abandoned,” means that sooner or later people will return to developing the village. And it seems that this time is slowly coming. To revive the Pyramid and turn it into a tourist area, Arktikugol renovated the hotel, partially restored the heat and water supply networks, and sewerage. A restaurant has been opened, new thermal boilers and a diesel station have been put into operation, and there are three guest houses for tourists in the port. By the way, quite a few of them are already coming: not only the preserved buildings from Soviet times are interesting, but also the unique location of the Pyramid.
Polar bears often enter the village. There is a known case when a bear snuck into a hotel, found a bar, drank a couple of beers and gobbled up some nuts. They kicked him out with the whole world, threw chairs and sticks at him, but the clubfoot really liked it in the new warm den. After this incident, the hotel bar offers a “Polar Bear Pack” of two cans of beer and nuts.
Let's now take a closer look...
Look how beautiful it is in the port of Pyramid. This is the view when looking at the port from the mountain:
And if you look at the fjord, against the backdrop of buildings there is a beautiful view of the glacier:
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Despite its apparent proximity, the glacier is more than 15 kilometers away. Due to the crystal clear air, distances are not felt at all:
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There is an area near the port where there is cellular coverage. People come here to call and check the weather forecast on the Internet. For convenience, a booth with a telephone set was placed here (it is, of course, not working, just hanging for ambience and decoration):
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Guests are greeted by smartly dressed guide Alexander. It is he who leads all the tourists who come to the Pyramid and maintains the village in order. I’m wearing a suit, which we always wear during boat trips. If suddenly something happens to the boat, you can live in the water for 48 hours in this robe:
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Excursion:
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There are paths along the Pyramid, raised one meter from the ground. This was not done for beauty - communications lie under the flooring. During the Soviet period, due to the heat of heating networks, snow and ice did not accumulate on the “boxes” and they were used as sidewalks:
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During the polar night, the paths were illuminated with lanterns:
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Alas, there is still a lot of work on the Pyramid. If you move a little to the side, you can see the old destroyed communications of the village and the mine.
By the way, the management of Arktikugol will be glad to have volunteers who come to the Pyramid to improve the territory. Applications must be submitted on the website http://www.goarctica.ru:
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Tablets from the past:
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The village got its name from the mountain of the same name, the top of which is very similar to a pyramid. We'll get to it in the next post:
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Previously, this was a dormitory for family employees, and today the building is known as the “House with Seagulls”:
There are whole hordes of them here. Birds perceive walls and windows as ledges in rocks and make their nests here:
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Panorama of the village from a quadcopter. In the foreground is a house with seagulls, to the left is a hotel. The alley behind them is the former residential buildings of the village and the main street:
View from the ground. The houses on the alley are painted, all the glass is in place, everything inside is left as it was in the 90s. The houses are all closed, there are locks on the doors. Some of them can be visited with a guide during an excursion:
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The communications of the former mine stretch upward under the clouds - rails for lowering coal and a funicular for employees:
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Old Arktikugol billboard. It indicates 79 degrees, although in reality, the Pyramid does not “reach” 79 degrees for about 20 minutes or about 35 kilometers. The latitude at which the Pyramid stands is 78"40:
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Vladimir Ilyich. I suspect this is the most northern Ilyich in the world:
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Sports complex. In the next post we will go inside:
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Suddenly an arctic fox came to us. This sign alerted us. Then they explained to us that the arctic fox had come to the village a long time ago: almost every house has their den:
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In 1910, Swede Bertil Högbom received permission to mine coal 120 kilometers from the Barentsburg mine in the depths of the mountains at half a kilometer above sea level. In 1911, construction and equipment of the mine began. This marked the beginning of the emergence of the Pyramid:
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The road goes beyond the village. There are artificial lakes there - an artificial reservoir from where water is collected for drinking:
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The river bed is now dry, but in spring and during rains this entire space is filled with water:
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Old water intake:
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From here you can clearly see Mount Pyramid:
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I’m sure you didn’t immediately guess that the previous photo shows an inverted reflection of a mountain in the water. Lake-reservoir:
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These things are called hydro-needles. They artificially froze the ground so that water from the lake would not seep through the soil during the summer thawing of permafrost:
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Now they are not working, but the water is still standing in the reservoir:
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The village was built taking into account the experience gained during the construction of Barentsburg and Grumant. According to the Norwegian King Harald V, who visited the Pyramid in 1995, it is “one of the pearls of the entire archipelago.” It's hard to disagree with this:
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In the next post we will look at the houses from the inside and climb the mountain. Stay Tuned!
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The Pyramid mine is a structural production unit of the FSUE GT Arktikugol trust, located on state-owned land plots of 73.5 hectares, and is the world’s northernmost village and mine, commissioned in 1956.
At the time of liquidation, the mine’s balance sheet included a mine, a power plant, a seaport, a helipad, a water supply and communications system, including space communications. The total number of employees was almost 550 people.
Houses in the village with a total living area of 3931 sq. m. m, mainly made of brick, cinder blocks, using reinforced concrete, concrete and metal structures. They housed 486 apartments, 56 hotel rooms and a 26-bed dormitory. There was a hospital, a cultural center, a swimming pool, a kindergarten, and other industrial and socio-cultural facilities. At the time of the inspection, most of the buildings and structures were in satisfactory condition, and the existing deformation of the foundations in some of them was local in nature.
All of the above objects turned out to be virtually abandoned. The decision to develop a feasibility study for the liquidation of the Pyramid mine was made at an extended meeting with the First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of the Russian Federation with the participation of the Russian Ministry of Economy, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, JSC Rosugol Company and FSUE GT Arktikugol (minutes dated July 28 .97 No. E-5332 pr). The mine liquidation project was approved by order of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of Russia dated March 23, 1998 No. 94 “On approval of the Pyramid mine liquidation project of the Arktikugol State Trust” and adjusted on September 3, 1998. Technical work to liquidate this mine began in August 1997, and shipping of commercial coal ceased on December 31 of the same year. Coal mining was completely stopped on April 1, 1998.
Considering that when developing a feasibility study for the liquidation of the Pyramid mine, the possibility of using all buildings and structures in the future was laid down, the decision to liquidate the Pyramid mine and mothball the residential village should be considered premature. This area remains very promising in terms of development of industrial and tourism activities.
As of 04/01/98, the remaining balance reserves of coal amounted to 3343.0 thousand tons, including industrial reserves - 1082.0 thousand tons. In 1990, an oil and gas field with predicted gas reserves of up to 4 billion cubic meters was discovered in the area where the Pyramid mine is located. m and oil - 25 million tons (Petunia Bay).
To this day, the issues of resuming the activities of the preserved infrastructure of a residential village remain relevant. There are also proposals from foreign businessmen on this issue, but they have not been considered by anyone.
(from the report of the Accounts Chamber 2004)
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In the article we will talk about the village of Pyramid, which is a Russian mining settlement. Let's dwell on the main points, learn about the history and attractions of this place, and also talk about other features.
Important
Let's start with the fact that the village of Pyramid is located on the island of Western Spitsbergen. It has been mothballed since 1998.
The name of this area comes from the mountain that is located nearby. In fact, the village was created at its foot. This mountain is notable for the fact that it has a pyramidal shape, which is why its name was coined. Also, the village of Pyramid is adjacent to Mimer and Petunia bays. Within a radius of 100 km from it is Barentsburg, the second largest settlement in the Spitsbergen archipelago. Its capital, Longyearbyen, is just over 50 km to the south. By the way, it is interesting that until 1998, Pyramid was the only operating mine in the world located at the extreme northern point.
Construction
It should be noted that the village of Pyramid was built wisely. Here they applied all the acquired experience and knowledge that had previously been used in the construction of Barentsburg, Colesbay and Grumant. However, the village was founded back in 1910. The Norwegian King Harald, visiting the village in 1995, said that it was a real pearl and decoration of the entire archipelago.
Note that this place is very popular in the summer. So, a tourist boat from Longyearbyen regularly sails here. Flights to Barentsburg also alternate. Despite the fact that the climate here is arctic, people want to see Norwegian power with their own eyes.
Attractions
As for the attractions in the village of Pyramid, it should be noted that the area here is unusual. So, all around you can see only valleys, glaciers and mountains. Note that the large Nordenskiöld glacier is located directly opposite the village of Pyramids. At the same time, you can see huge boulders, which sometimes fall off with a strong roar and scare non-locals. Chunks of ice travel in the form of icebergs.
If you have at least a day to visit this place, you can already see a lot of interesting things. You will be able to admire the gorgeous waterfalls and Blue Lakes, as well as the bottle house, which has become a very popular attraction among tourists.
Historical information
Let's talk about the history of the village of Pyramid. In 1910, permission was received to mine coal in this area. It was issued to the Swede B. Högbu, who planned to mine coal 120 km from the Barentsburg mine known to us and 1.5 km above sea level. Just a year later, active construction of the mine began. A human settlement was then located on the shores of Mimer and Petunia bays, which we have already discussed above. At that time, the land plots belonged to a large Swedish company, but after a while they were bought by a company called “Anglo-Russian Grumant”. After this, in 1927, the village again passed into the hands of a new owner, namely the Severoles trust. Since 1931, the renamed Arktikugol trust became Soviet. However, the full-fledged mine itself was built somewhat later.
Its construction began only in the summer of 1939, and lasted only until the end of the summer of 1941. Then it was necessary to evacuate all residents to carry out work that was safe for the population. It is interesting that by this time less than 100 people lived here.
War
Even before the start of the war, a bathhouse, a dormitory, a technical warehouse and a diesel station were built in the mining village of Pyramid (Spitsbergen). There was also a radio station, a boiler room, a canteen, and haulage and ventilation adits. Around this time, active construction of residential buildings began.
The main work was still carried out on the surface of the mine. The first wintering was organized here in the period 1940-1941.
When World War II began in 1941, all the equipment that was in the village and even the coal warehouse was completely destroyed. Moreover, all this was done by the employees during the evacuation. It was necessary that all available resources should under no circumstances fall to the enemy. That is why the decision was made to completely destroy all reserves.
Start of mine construction
In the summer of 1946, when more than 600 polar explorers arrived in the mining village of Pyramid, construction of the mine began. In fact, it began a little earlier, but it is generally accepted that things only started after the polar explorers arrived. It should also be noted that the first street appeared here in the spring of 1947. It began at the port, which was just being built at that time, and led to the very center of the village. Very quickly the street became overgrown with houses on all sides, which were called Finnish houses.
In the period from 1947 to 1950, a huge amount of work was carried out regarding geological exploration. At the same time, mining and exploration work was carried out, thanks to which coal was mined. During this period of time, more than 70 thousand tons of fuel were produced.
After 1950s
The village of Pyramid (Spitsbergen) grew and developed quite actively. After the 1960s, the population began to grow, and already reached the 1000 mark. At the same time, construction began on large multi-storey buildings, a library, a swimming pool, a shallow port for receiving coal and a beautiful winter garden.
At the same time, during the entire operation of the mine, many structures were built here. Thus, the village now has its own thermal power plant, garage, port, greenhouse, and livestock farm. In addition, three artificial lakes were even created here, which were filled with drinking water. It is also worth noting the many social facilities that are in abundance here.
The village of Pyramid in Barentsburg quickly became quite well-equipped and well-groomed. After some time, that is, in 1980, more than a thousand people lived here. A luxurious sports complex was built for them, equipped with a swimming pool with sea water. The dining room could accommodate up to 200 people.
Closing of a mine in the Russian village of Pyramida
At the end of 1997, a decision was made to close the mine. Despite everything, by this time the annual coal production plan had been perfectly fulfilled. The volume reached more than 130 thousand tons of coal. But this amounted to only 57% of the mine’s total capacity, which could not but depress its owners. The point was not this year specifically, but the fact that there was general statistics of a decrease in the level of coal production. We can say that the main reason for this decline was that workers simply did not have enough time to carry out the cleanup work. This, in turn, was caused by nothing other than difficult geological conditions.
Reasons for liquidation
The main reason for the liquidation of the mine in the village of Pyramid, a photo of which we see in the article, was that reserves were limited, and the costs of mining were constantly growing. This meant that it was necessary to increase the amount of preparatory work, and therefore increase costs. It should be noted that in 1970 there was an endogenous fire here. A lot of money was spent on its elimination, but it still works, albeit to a lesser extent.
The last tons of coal were extracted from the second mine, which was called Severnaya. This happened on the last day of March in 1998. It should be noted that the liquidation work was mainly aimed only at the mine itself and the surface around it. Objects that could potentially harm not only the environment, but also the safety of people were also processed. During the operation of the Severnaya mine, it was possible to extract over 9 million tons of coal.
Desolation
At the same time, I would like to separately note that all the difficulties faced by the Arktikugol concern in the field of formulating a mine development policy were fully reflected in the village of Pyramid (Russia). At the same time, more and more new requests regarding the resumption of the mine's operation constantly appeared. But still no one took any active action in this direction. Also, materials regarding independent assessments of profitability remained unknown.
Even though the village has a very good location almost in the very heart of the archipelago, it has not been able to attract enough attention from research groups and centers, for example, like Ny-Ålesund. Unfortunately, permanent buildings built during the Soviet Union remained abandoned.
Present tense
What is happening to the mothballed village of Pyramid in modern times and how are things going there? It should be noted that, although coal mining was stopped in 1998, the general infrastructure was preserved. It is thanks to her that it remains possible to conduct various scientific research here, as well as welcome tourists and everyone who wants to visit the preserved village of Pyramid.
Since the Arktikugol trust still remains the owner of this area, its management has made every effort to turn the village into a worthy tourist area. In recent years, an excellent hotel has been built here, and work has been done on the sewerage, water and heat supply systems. Two thermal boilers and two diesel stations were also launched. There are three spacious guest houses for tourists in the port.
In 2011, as part of the program for the protection of cultural monuments, an agreement was concluded between the Arktikugol trust and the governor of Spitsbergen. In February, they agreed that they would carry out joint work to repair and maintain all buildings in the village of Pyramid in a stable condition.
Due to the fact that there is still no clear policy in the field of asset diversification in Russia, an interesting picture can be observed. Of all the subsidies from the state that were allocated to the concern in 2008, Arktikugol was able to allocate most of it to maintain the buildings and only one paid guide. Let us also note that in 2009 an excellent hotel appeared here, which is open only in the summer. Meals are also included in the price of your stay here. As of 2014, only 16 people live in the village, of whom only three stay regularly for the winter. As you can see, the number of residents has dropped incredibly, so the only way out is to develop the tourism business.
Impact on culture
I would like to say that the Danish band Efterklang noted that they were inspired to create their fourth studio album by a trip to the archipelago that they made in the summer of 2011. The guys said in an interview that they were simply impressed by the extraordinary nature and original landscapes.
In the famous popular science series called “Life after People,” the village in question was shown. He appeared in the episode "Tides of Destruction" as a prime example. It was shown what can happen to the area after 10 years without people. It was also shown what it could become in 500 years according to scientists. Despite the catastrophic nature of the situation, some features were recognizable even after such a period. Probably due to the fact that Svalbard always has low temperatures and an arctic climate.
People who have been here say that the city looks like a ghost. This is a great option if you want to travel back in time 50 years. If you go into the buildings, you can find posters of long-outdated rock stars on the walls, and you can find Soviet primers in schools. This territory seems a little frightening and alienating, somewhat reminiscent of Chernobyl. Many people note that it is worth coming here as a tourist at least once. But you must be prepared for the fact that the sight of a plundered and deserted village can impress you to the core. There is something inexpressibly sad and repulsive in such a sight. Such places remind us that only man fills the space around him.
But it should be noted that in recent years the area has slowly begun to revive. Why slow? We remember how many people lived here in 2014. Perhaps there are fewer of them, or none at all.
Svalbard is a place where the modern Norwegian way of life and the Soviet way of life coexist. There are three Russian villages on the territory of the archipelago, one of which is active - Barentsburg, and the rest have the status of “mothballed/abandoned”.
I want to tell you about one of them. We will talk about the legendary coal village of Pyramid. “Ghost town”, “the northernmost coal mine in the world”, “a fragment of the Soviet system in the Arctic”, “northern frontier” - no matter what they call this place, which has been lost in time and gives foreigners who come here the opportunity to feel like they are in the Soviet Union, and the residents of the CIS - to plunge into the past, from which they barely had time to wean themselves.
Why Pyramid?
Everything is very simple - the village is located at the foot of a pyramid-shaped mountain. The Norwegians call it in their own way Pyramiden, but this name was given to it by the Swedes, who were the first to begin coal mining activities here. With a very strong desire and the necessary equipment, you can climb to the top of the Pyramid and look at the village and the mine from above, which goes deep into this mountain, but you must have a guide with a gun with you, because due to the proximity of the Pyramid to Billefjord, where seals live , the likelihood of meeting a polar bear here increases sharply.
The same mountain thanks to which the village received its name
History of the Pyramid
In 1910, the Swedish company Spetsbergens Svenska Kolfalt received permission to mine coal in the archipelago, and a year later equipped a mine for this purpose. It must be said that geologically this is not the easiest place to mine coal. The mine is located in a hard-to-reach place at an altitude of half a kilometer, which makes this type of work very complex and energy-intensive. In this regard, 16 years later, in 1927, a Swedish company sells the territory of the village of Pyramid along with everything that is on it. In 1931, the Soviet state trust Arktikugol became the owner of this 47 sq. km site. From this year until now, it is the only Russian company that conducts business activities in the Norwegian archipelago of Spitsbergen.
Plan diagram of the village of Pyramid The Soviet Union decided not to use the Swedish mine, but, with its usual scope, began to build its own. In 1941, having managed to rebuild the mine itself and the infrastructure around it in the village, all residents were removed from the village due to the outbreak of World War II in the Soviet Union. During the evacuation, the coal warehouse and all equipment were destroyed by the inhabitants of the Pyramid.
After 1946, life in the Pyramid begins to resume. For these purposes, 609 polar explorers were brought here, and already in 1947 the first street appeared here, which started from the port and led to the village. The Soviet Union spared no expense in reviving the Pyramid; everything was done on a grand scale. Multi-storey buildings were built here for families, women and men (in the best Soviet traditions, men lived separately from women). The women's house was called "Paris", and the men's house was called "London". A library, a hospital, greenhouses, a large sports complex with a swimming pool with heated sea water, a hotel, a dining room with 200 seats, a livestock farm and many other industrial and technical buildings. Pyramid was the northernmost village in the Spitsbergen archipelago and the closest to the North Pole. And if you also take into account that this territory is located in permafrost, then you can imagine how much effort had to be made in order to erect all these buildings.
The main street in the Pyramid is called “60th Anniversary of October” Coal mining was in full swing and already in the 1950s about 70 thousand tons of coal were mined. In order to increase production, in 1956 the second Severnaya mine was opened, from which, according to the project, 235 thousand tons of coal could be extracted per year.
A mine that goes deep into the mountain, and at the top there is a rock in the form of a pyramid By 1980, the population here numbered more than 1000 people. The village is gaining incredible popularity due to the high level of salaries. Literally everyone in the Soviet Union knows that if you work in the Arctic, you can earn enough to buy a new apartment in a very short time, so the competition for jobs is simply crazy. You can get a job in the coal village of Pyramid only through great connections through good friends.
Residential buildings in Pyramid 
Hotel "Tulip" 
The rule to leave your gun outside applies throughout the Svalbard archipelago 
The Pyramid houses the northernmost monument to Lenin in the world However, the process of collapse of the Soviet Union will have an extremely negative impact on the Pyramid. By that time, coal as a mineral will greatly depreciate in the market. And the costs of maintaining such a distant territory will no longer be affordable for the Soviet government, so the number of miners and their families is gradually decreasing. Transporting coal to the continent becomes very expensive, so they decide to store its entire supply locally, in the village. The condition of the mines requires major repairs, especially after endogenous (underground) fires that have not yet been extinguished. However, the Pyramid is trying to “survive” for another 7 long years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But in 1997, a decision was made to close the mines and mothball the entire village.
The buildings in the Pyramid look different depending on the lighting. Here, for example, is the port on a sunny day. Nothing at all 
And here is the same port, but in a snow storm. Looks a little scary, doesn't it? 
The coal sorting room looks very gloomy. It's like a set for a thriller or horror movie 
The rest of the industrial buildings don't look any better. 
There is a lot of equipment left in the kitchen in the dining room 
The kitchen had a lot of capacity to feed an entire miner's village. 
A large mural of the Arctic hangs in the dining room. 
There were always a lot of books in the Pyramid 
Sometimes you come across books that you can't put down 
Despite the fact that the bulk of the books were transported to Barentsburg, interesting copies can be found in the Pyramid 
Most buildings are prohibited from entering. But our guide, who worked in the Pyramid, still had the keys to the dining room and the cultural center 
Sports complex with swimming pool 
The cultural center has a gym where you can develop your physical spirit 
Music studios were also present in the Pyramid 
The cultural center often hosted performances by local groups. 
The distance between Pyramid and Barentsburg is 120 km, so sports competitions were often held between the villages 
These posters are still kept in the cultural center 
There was a notice board in the dining room where people were buying and selling things. 
Since goods from the continent sometimes had to wait a very long time, such boards helped to get the necessary goods 
Where would we be without her, my dear? In March 1998, the last ton of coal was produced from the Severnaya mine, and now this legendary trailer, filled to the brim, stands at the entrance to the village. During operation, this mine produced 8.8 million tons of coal, which accounted for 57% of the total volume of the entire mine. Due to the closure of the mines, all its inhabitants were taken to the continent or to Barentsburg.
The last trailer with coal is at the entrance to the village Plane crash on Spitsbergen
Another factor in favor of closing the village was the largest air disaster on Spitsbergen, when in 1996 a Russian Vnukovo Airlines TU-154 plane, operating a charter flight Moscow-Longyearbyen, crashed into Mount Opera. There were 141 people on board - mostly miners for the Pyramid and Barentsburg mines and their families. All crew members and passengers were killed. The cause of the plane crash was the inexperience of the pilots who made this flight. The fact is that after the collapse of the USSR, there were constant delays in the payment of wages, and the crew of the flight that usually flew to Spitsbergen refused to work. Therefore, they hired completely new pilots who did not know the terrain near Longyearbyen airport. This led to a disaster that is still considered the largest in terms of the number of victims in the entire history of Norway. In memory of this sad event, a wooden church was erected in the village of Barentsburg, which is open around the clock.
The pyramid in our time
The village stood in a mothballed state for 11 long years, when the Russian authorities decided to revive life in this distant land. The fact is that the “ghost town” became a desired destination for many Norwegian tourists who wanted to “touch” the Soviet Union, which they had only read about in books. In 2009, a decision was made to “re-open” the Tulip Hotel so that visiting tourists would have a place to stay overnight. The hotel opens a full-fledged restaurant-bar. The entire interior has been preserved in the classic Soviet style; they decided not to modify it. By 2016, some of the hotel rooms were renovated, and the second part was left as is, because Norwegians and other foreigners are ready to shell out a large sum for the opportunity to spend a night in a “Soviet room” (in 2018, a room in the “Soviet” style cost 100 euros per night, and refurbished – 120 euros).
At the bar you can order a lot of strong alcoholic drinks, including regular vodka. The more Soviet symbols, the better The same goes for the restaurant menu - all the names have been preserved from Soviet canteens. Here you will find the Gorbachev omelette, the Student cutlet, Russian pancakes with caviar, and Ukrainian borscht with sour cream. All products are transported from another Russian village on Spitsbergen - Barentsburg. They also accept orders for overnight stays at the hotel or group tours to the Pyramid. During the polar summer (from late March to early October), up to 20 service personnel can live in the village - these are cooks, guides, cleaners, waiters, the head of the village, and stokers who use coal reserves to heat all the buildings. In winter, about 3 stokers remain in Pyramid, and since no one goes to the village in the polar winter, a supply of food for these workers is left in the fall.
Pancakes, but not with caviar 
We can safely say that there are many more animals in the Pyramid than people 
Arctic foxes here are tamed by stokers, but it is better not to touch them with your hands - they can carry rabies 
Around the Pyramid on the ice you can find many tracks of polar bears. They often enter the village, so you shouldn’t walk alone without a gun 
The reindeer are not at all embarrassed by the abandoned status of the Pyramid; they are here on their own territory Communication in the Pyramid
It is at this place that you can try to catch the signal of the Norwegian mobile operator. Someone hung up a telephone as a joke My impressions of the Pyramid
We spent 3 days and 2 nights in the Pyramid, and my impressions were very mixed. On the one hand, this is a unique place, which has no analogues in the world, where you can feel forgotten by everyone on the edge of the earth. On the other hand, if you are a socially active person, then the Pyramid will be a real torture, since a limited circle of people (with whom it is not always possible to make friends) and a complete lack of communication will make staying in the village almost unbearable. Therefore, everyone decides for himself whether he could live in complete isolation or not. But the fact that this place will not leave you indifferent is one hundred percent. Therefore, if you have such an opportunity, then visit this “ghost town” at the end of the earth while it is still in the form in which it was left.
The pyramid is located 120 km north of Longyearbyen, Norway; it was the world's northernmost coal mine. The prefix “the northernmost” here can be substituted for everything: “the northernmost monument to Lenin” or “the northernmost swimming pool in the world” and so on, whatever your imagination allows. In 1998, coal mining ended and the village was mothballed. In the 1980s, up to 1000 people lived in the village; when Lebedev visited this place in the 2000s, only a crazy German lived here. Due to the special status of Spitsbergen (any state could conduct economic activity there), the Soviet Union tried to make this village a real showcase of communism; the Norwegians were jealous of how luxuriously a citizen of the USSR lived. It was a real paradise, getting here was considered real luck.
The pyramid is located in a picturesque location at the foot of a mountain, similar in shape to a real pyramid overlooking the Nordenskiöld glacier. During the difficult crisis years of the conservation of the village, when no one remained in the Pyramid for the winter, vandals ruled here. The Norwegians came on snowmobiles and took away everything that could be taken away. For example, in the Kroa bar in Longyearbyen there is a bust of Lenin, it is just from the Pyramid. The city could have become another ghost town, like Pripyat in Ukraine, but we came to our senses in time and are now trying to breathe new life into the city through tourism.
Ghost town Pyramid on Spitsbergen // elnarperm.livejournal.com
And now a little history. There is constant debate about who was the first to discover this polar archipelago. The Pomors of Spitsbergen have been known as "Grumant" since the 15th century; at the entrance to the harbors, the Russians left wooden crosses with the names of those who erected them. The Pomors left traces of settlements, there is no doubt - they were the first to engage in fishing on the distant island of Spitsbergen. Radiocarbon dating of the objects shows that they are much earlier in time than the Viking journeys to these lands. The Norwegians, of course, claim the opposite. Allegedly, the Pomors arrived much later and brought with them old utensils and used centuries-old logs in the construction of houses, so radiocarbon analysis does not count :) Ours claim that the Vikings only sailed to Bear Island, which they called “Svalbard,” i.e. cold earth in Norwegian. The question is quite political.
Officially, the island was discovered by the Dutch navigator Barents, who was looking for the shortest route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The discovery of new islands led to the fact that whaling companies settled here; what’s more, the bowhead whale produced 1.5 tons of baleen and 30 tons of blubber!
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The British and Danes were the first to declare their territorial claims to this land. Unlike Western Europeans, our people felt great on Spitsbergen, built camps and spent the winter in harsh conditions. Norwegians actively began to appear at the end of the 19th century, the land was officially recognized as “no man's land” just at this time. The issue of the legal status of the islands was supposed to be resolved in 1914 between Russia, Norway and Sweden, but due to the First World War the issue was returned to only in 1920, the Soviet Union was not invited to the Paris Conference, but the possibility of Russian rights to use natural and other resources before the USSR joined the treaty. The treaty itself recognized sovereignty over the islands for Norway, but the Norwegians pledged not to build military bases and fortifications on the islands, and now the most interesting thing: “citizens of all countries that signed the treaty, along with the Norwegians, have the right of free access to the archipelago for shipping, industrial, and commercial activities.” and commercial transactions on conditions of complete equality.
In other words, the islands actually belong to Norway, but any company or any citizen can live on the island and use its resources. A unique situation!
Ours in 1924, we joined the agreement, bought the land plots managed by the Arktikugol company, its task was simple - to provide the northern part of Russia with coal. Until 1941, two mines operated - in Barentsburg and Grumant, and a third village - Pyramid - was built. Every day the ships departed for Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. During the war, all the workers were evacuated to the north of England, and after the war, in 1946, the first miners and builders arrived, restored two villages in 3 years and completed the Pyramid in 1956.
So, it turns out that we had three settlements, the first is Grumant, which was mothballed in 1961, the miners say that when the coal runs out in other places, they can return here, the proven reserves will last for a long time. The second village is Barentsburg, an active village with the Russian Consulate, a swimming pool, a school and other infrastructure, I will write about it later. The most interesting is the third mine, Pyramid.
My first story will be about him.
And it all started with this issue of the Russian Reporter; in 2009, I read the article “The Archipelago NO WAY” about this place and got excited. I knew I'd get here. Necessarily
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Our ship is in the port, the Russians call it the “polar girl”, the port of registration is Tromsø, in the winter it takes athletes to the fjord mountains, in the summer it takes tourists to the Pyramid and Barentsburg.
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The most important thing is to be lucky with the weather, then 3 hours of sailing will seem like a pleasant walk. In total, two ships carry it to the Pyramid in the summer.
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Barents, the discoverer of the island, wrote this: “The land along which we sailed was hilly and elevated, but they were not mountains, although the hills looked like sharp spiers, so the land was piled on Spitsbergen.”
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Northern nature is gorgeous, of course
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Guide Vadim talks in Norwegian and English about the animal world and the history of the island. Basically, half of the tourists are from mainland Norway, the rest are a complete hodgepodge of Germans, French, and Americans.
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Approaching the Pyramid
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Buildings, view from the water
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We are greeted by the bus and the tour guide Sasha from St. Petersburg, a colorful character with a “moose” gun. You can’t go without a gun; polar bears are extremely dangerous animals. Interestingly, the killing of a polar bear is investigated by the police; shooting can only be done in self-defense, which still needs to be proven. The role of the police is performed by the governor from Norway or, as he is called here, the Susselman. The punishments and fines here are severe, they say that in times of famine, our people killed deer, and they were with chips, and the Norgs (that’s what the Norwegians are called) immediately flew in by helicopter and tied everyone up. The fines are scary!
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