Visiting an abandoned soviet coal mine in the north pole is definitely a once in a lifetime experience.
Pyramiden is an abandoned soviet mining town in the Arctic, located in Svalbard island, and it represented a communist utopia for few decades, before it has been shut down in the 90s and completely abandoned.
After few years of completely abandonment, except a guardian living there, since the 2010s it has re-opened as an open air museum, and it is possible to sleep in a renovated hotel, one of the 2 buildings in the whole town with electricity and heating.
In 2024 Pyramiden Coal Mine has been re-opened after 26 years of being completely sealed off in the permafrost of the mountain, and I had the luck and the privilege to be among the first travellers to enter the mountain and the mine.
This has been one of the most incredible thing I’ve seen on planet earth, it looked like exploring a frozen world lost in time.
The entrance of the mins is at the footstep of the hill. and first there was one of the many “dressing” rooms.
dressing room with some old portraits
The access to the mine on the top of the hill is through this long corridor, used with motorized carts, and now just a long walk uphill, around 1 hour of steps.
inside pyramiden coal mine
inside pyramiden coal mine
For understanding better where is the mine and where is the town, you can see this aerial panorama of the town, where the hill with the mine is visible.
Pyramiden Aerial View of town and surroundings
view of pyramiden town from one of the many stops along the walk
In August the temperature outside was around 8 degrees, and once opened the sealed entrance to the mine, we were ready for at least a -10 degrees drop.
The only way for entering the mountain was for the worker to open an entrance with a chainsaw… through 3 meters of ice wall… something that is out of Game of Thrones! You can see here the entrance of the tunnel carved in the ice.
entering pyramiden coal mine through a wall of ice
last dressing room for the miners
This huge machinery was used to pull the carts with the miners.
machine to pull up carts
cart used by miners in pyramiden
inside pyramiden coal mine – tunnel
This is the control room used to manage the cart with the miners.
inside pyramiden coal mine control room
The incredible part is how workers left everything in their workstation, like if the mine was abandoned in a hurry, or suddenly. You could find cigarettes, notepads, VHS… frozen in time and in ice.
pyramiden abandoned stuff in the mine
inside pyramiden coal mine shifts manifesto
All around the corridors, colorful poster were indicating safety procedures, in the typical “soviet” art style.
inside pyramiden – security posters
inside pyramiden – security posters
inside pyramiden – security posters
Even if they were in coal mine, in the north pole, the attention to detail and to the workmanship was amazing. In this iron gate, you can recognize the natural “pyramid” on the top of the mountain, that gives the name to the town.
gate to the mine in pyramiden
gate to the mine in pyramiden
Everything inside was just rust and ice and darkness, absolute darkness.
Most of the corridors inside the mine are completely covered by ice crystals, and even some rooms were blocked by ice…
Pyramiden Coal mine – ice crystals
Pyramiden Coal mine – room filled with ice
Pyramiden Coal mine – ice crystals
Pyramiden Coal mine – ice crystals
Pyramiden Coal mine – iced corridor
Currently the tourism organization of Svalbard has broken any relationship with Pyramiden – due to the russian war in Ukraine – so to visit the abandoned town you have to book directly via the russian agency Grumant: I strongly recommend you to spend more nights in the settlement to truly experience the place without any tourists around, the hotel Pyramiden is a very good value for money and recently renovated.
You can see my reportage of Svalbard Wildlife at this link.
You might also like
