Pyramiden Spitsbergen, Arctic Norway
Norway
32
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Hurtigruten (32 Cruises)
MS Trollfjord
32 Cruises
Frequently Asked Questions
A Soviet mining town on Spitsbergen, frozen overnight in 1998 when the Trust Arktikugol company closed the coal operation. Rows of apartment blocks, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, a concert hall: a whole town waiting for residents who will not come back.
By sea, or not at all: no road leads there. Expedition ships anchor off the shore or come alongside depending on size, and fast boats link the site to Longyearbyen in summer, a crossing of a few hours.
No. You move with an armed guide, a requirement because polar bears sometimes cross the area. Groups follow the old central avenue, edged with a strip of turf once imported from Ukraine.
Coal justified the settlement, prestige did the rest. Sold to the Soviet Union in 1927, the concession became a showcase of the communist world in the Arctic: a thousand residents had a greenhouse, a heated pool and a library.
Yes, and it is the northernmost bust of Lenin on the planet, on the central square. The site's Russian name, Piramida, still stands in monumental letters at the entrance.
The palace of culture with its auditorium and grand piano, the gymnasium with its floor worn by gym shoes, the canteen decorated with mosaics glorifying the Far North. Outside, the incline rails climb to the mine entrance.
A few seasonal employees, keeping up an almost symbolic Russian presence. The site's hotel has reopened and serves hot drinks and souvenirs to visitors passing through.
The front of the Nordenskiold glacier, blocking the horizon with its blue-tinged wall facing the town. Guillemots and terns nest on the building ledges, Arctic foxes patrol the foundations, and the tundra reclaims lost ground centimetre by centimetre.
Warm clothes in several layers, hat and gloves whatever the season, waterproof boots — landings are sometimes on a wet shore — binoculars, and a little cash or a card for the hotel counter.
Everyone leaves with a different thought: about utopias, about coal, about what the Arctic does to human ambition. No other port of call resembles this one, and its silence keeps echoing long after you are back on board.
