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!
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
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 explored 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
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
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.
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
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.
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
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.”
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
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.
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
Approaching the Pyramid
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
Buildings, view from the water
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
// elnarperm.livejournal.com
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!
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 community 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)
Wiki: ru:Pyramid (village) en:Pyramiden uk:Pyramid (village) de:Pyramiden (Spitzbergen)
Pyramid village, description and map linked together. After all, We are places on the world map. Explore more, find more. Find interesting places around, with photos and reviews. Check out our interactive map with places around you, get more detailed information, get to know the world better.
Now a flash mob about the 90s is very popular, and in the last post about Spitsbergen I propose to be transported back to that time - to the village of Pyramid, mothballed in 97 and retaining the ambiance of the Soviet-perestroika era.
(42 photos)
A mothballed settlement differs from an abandoned one in that sooner or later people will return to it. Permafrost is good for preserving buildings, and there is no one nearby who could destroy them. Recently I showed the Pyramid from the street, and now I invite you to look inside and plunge into the atmosphere of the 90s...
Everything inside remains as is. Childhood memories came flooding back to me - a lot of typical elements and familiar objects.
Cinema hall. This lining on the walls used to be everywhere possible.
There is a piano on stage. Working, but, as one would expect, not in a good mood.
Projectionist's booth. There are reels of tapes on the floor.
The gym is completely untouched. Recently there was a competition between our and Norwegian scientists.
Rocking chair with Soviet homemade sports equipment.
By the way, in the Russian provinces many of these simulators are still in use.
Library. Strange, but there are no books. They say that they were stolen, but it seems to me that the Norwegians took them away. I doubt that anyone would decide to steal a library in such a place.
Old Soviet signs.
The studio retains soundproofing upholstery and musical instruments.
Hall for ballet and dance classes. Why are there so many lamps on the ceiling?
The mirrors were removed, revealing a message from 1984 behind them.
The Bird House is a former family hostel.
Kindergarten "Solnyshko" and its creators.
A little higher up is a sign for an elementary school. Now it looks like a puzzle.
The paint inside the school is already peeling off. In principle, it is not surprising - for such a time and in such temperature conditions.
Teacher's room with a warehouse of textbooks and magazines.
Textbooks of my time! I remember them from school.
A stack of test papers. Unfortunately, it was a dictation, not an essay - it would have been interesting to read the thoughts of schoolchildren from the 90s.
Magazine with ratings. It can be seen that there were 20 people in the class.
The guide said that the wallpaper started peeling off just a week ago.
Primary school class. The board is lined into copybooks and squares.
A classroom where traffic studies took place.
The trek of the great traveler Maxim Gorky.
Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Apparently, such graffiti appeared in recent years. The broken chandelier is the result of long years of neglect, and not the hands of vandals - they themselves began to fall from the ceiling.
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:
4. 
Despite its apparent proximity, the glacier is more than 15 kilometers away. Due to the crystal clear air, distances are not felt at all:
5. 
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):
6. 
7. 
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:
8. 
Excursion:
9. 
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:
10. 
During the polar night, the paths were illuminated with lanterns:
11. 
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:
12. 
Tablets from the past:
13. 
14. 
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:
15. 
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:
17. 
18. 
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:
20. 
21. 
The communications of the former mine stretch upward under the clouds - rails for lowering coal and a funicular for employees:
22. 
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:
23. 
Vladimir Ilyich. I suspect this is the most northern Ilyich in the world:
24. 
Sports complex. In the next post we will go inside:
25. 
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:
26. 
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:
27. 
The road goes beyond the village. There are artificial lakes there - an artificial reservoir from where water is collected for drinking:
28. 
The river bed is now dry, but in spring and during rains this entire space is filled with water:
29. 
Old water intake:
31. 
From here you can clearly see Mount Pyramid:
32. 
I’m sure you didn’t immediately guess that the previous photo shows an inverted reflection of a mountain in the water. Lake-reservoir:
33. 
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:
34. 
Now they are not working, but the water is still standing in the reservoir:
35. 
36. 
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:
37. 
In the next post we will look at the houses from the inside and climb the mountain. Stay Tuned!
38. 
Pyramid is a mothballed Russian village on Spitsbergen. Until 1998, this was the site of the world's northernmost mine.
production coal After many years of work, it was closed due to a combination of circumstances: a fire in the mine and the difficulty of extinguishing it,
default in 1998, small remaining coal reserves, and in connection with all this, restoration work is unprofitable.
“Mothballed,” as opposed to “abandoned,” means that sooner or later people will return to developing the village. And it seems
this time is slowly coming. To revive the Pyramid and turn it into a tourist area, Arktikugol renovated
hotel, partially restored heating and water supply engineering networks, sewerage. The restaurant was opened and started working
new thermal boilers and a diesel station; there are three guest houses for tourists in the port. By the way, quite a few of them are already arriving:
Not only the surviving 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, and 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:
Despite its apparent proximity, the glacier is more than 15 kilometers away. Due to the crystal clear air, the distances are quite
not felt:
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 comfort
a booth with a telephone set was installed here (it is, of course, not working, just hanging for ambiance and decoration):
Guests are greeted by smartly dressed guide Alexander. It is he who leads all the tourists who come to the Pyramid and supports them in
the village is in order. I’m wearing a suit, which we always wear during boat trips. If suddenly something
happens to a boat, you can live in water for 48 hours in this robe:
Excursion:
There are paths along the Pyramid, raised one meter from the ground. This was not done for beauty - communications lie under the flooring. IN
During the Soviet period, due to the heat from heating networks, snow and ice did not accumulate on the “boxes” and they were used as sidewalks:
During the polar night, the paths were illuminated with lanterns:
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:
Tablets from the past:
The village got its name from the mountain of the same name, the top of which is very similar to a pyramid. We will climb it in
next post:
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:
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 former residential
village houses and 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, on the doors
locks. Some of them can be visited with a guide during an excursion:
The communications of the former mine stretch upward under the clouds - rails for lowering coal and a funicular for employees:
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:
Vladimir Ilyich. I suspect this is the most northern Ilyich in the world:
Sports complex. In the next post we will go inside:
Suddenly a scribe came to us. This sign alerted us. Then they explained to us that the scribe came to the village a long time ago: in almost every
there is their lair at home:
In 1910, the Swede Bertil Högbom received permission to mine coal 120 kilometers from the Barentsburg mine in the depths of the mountains on
half a kilometer above sea level. In 1911, construction and equipment of the mine began. This marked the beginning
emergence of the Pyramid:
The road goes beyond the village. There are artificial lakes there - an artificial reservoir from which water is collected for drinking:
The river bed is now dry, but in spring and during rains this entire space is filled with water:
Old water intake:
From here you can clearly see Mount Pyramid:
I’m sure you didn’t immediately guess that the previous photo shows an inverted reflection of a mountain in the water. Lake-reservoir:
These things are called hydro-needles. They artificially froze the ground so that water from the lake did not seep through the soil into
summer period of permafrost thawing:
Now they are not working, but the water is still standing in the reservoir:
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, is “one of the pearls of the entire archipelago.” It's hard to disagree with this:
