Once a Russian settlement and coal mining community, the town of Pyramiden, located on the island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic Ocean, has now become a tourist attraction. Vladimir Prokofiev guide us around this amazing ghost town, which seems frozen in time.
The old mining Pyramiden is about 1300 km from the North Pole, on the island of Spitsbergen, Norway. Abandoned since 1998, the ghost town was renovated in 2006 and now receives travelers keen to see desert landscapes and vestiges of another time.
"Neither radio, no TV, no internet"
"Welcome to the End of the World" welcomes Vladimir Prokofiev, a Russian tourist guide of 33 years who works here. Cut off from the world, he stayed at the Tulip abandoned hotel where he says he can, on a good day, pick up a signal for his phone from the Norwegian network. "There was no radio, no TV, no internet in the village. But you can have the network by going to the" spot of hope "he says, noting that it never know who will drop first.'s phone battery or her fingers, made by cold because at this time of the year, the thermometer reads -10 ° C in the sun, a temperature that actually believes Vladimir cooler due to the icy wind blowing continuously.
"Welcome to the End of the World" welcomes Vladimir Prokofiev, a Russian tourist guide of 33 years who works here. Cut off from the world, he stayed at the Tulip abandoned hotel where he says he can, on a good day, pick up a signal for his phone from the Norwegian network. "There was no radio, no TV, no internet in the village. But you can have the network by going to the" spot of hope "he says, noting that it never know who will drop first.'s phone battery or her fingers, made by cold because at this time of the year, the thermometer reads -10 ° C in the sun, a temperature that actually believes Vladimir cooler due to the icy wind blowing continuously.
Waiting for the moment tourists usually arrive a bit later in the year, he now struggles to find traces of the Soviet period this former mining community. And this is not what is missing: old boots, factory equipment, and even a statue of Lenin, the site seems frozen in time, as if he had never ceased to be exploited.
The "Soviet Paradise" of 1970-1980
And yet, since 1998 and the cessation of production of the mine, nobody lives here except for a few guards who seek to keep the place in a state. Pyramiden its name from a pyramid-shaped mountain at the foot of which it is situated, it was founded in 1910 by the Swedes. Purchased in 1926 by the Russians, it was then transformed into mining community of 1,000 employees operating completely independently, until the late 1990s. Described as "Soviet Paradise" in the 70s and 80s, the city at the time included a nursery, a school, a gym and even a heated indoor pool. All these buildings are still visible today in the city, accessible to passengers by boat or snowmobile from Longyearbyen, the administrative capital of Svalbard in Norway.
And yet, since 1998 and the cessation of production of the mine, nobody lives here except for a few guards who seek to keep the place in a state. Pyramiden its name from a pyramid-shaped mountain at the foot of which it is situated, it was founded in 1910 by the Swedes. Purchased in 1926 by the Russians, it was then transformed into mining community of 1,000 employees operating completely independently, until the late 1990s. Described as "Soviet Paradise" in the 70s and 80s, the city at the time included a nursery, a school, a gym and even a heated indoor pool. All these buildings are still visible today in the city, accessible to passengers by boat or snowmobile from Longyearbyen, the administrative capital of Svalbard in Norway.
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