Hidden away on the northern edge of the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in the Arctic Circle, Pyramiden is a former Soviet mining town that has become one of the most intriguing ghost towns in the world. Read on as we explore the history of Pyramiden from its birth and heyday to its decline and abandonment through these eerie images.

Long before Pyramiden existed, Svalbard’s remote islands were used as a base for whaling, walrus trapping and exploring. By the start of the 20th century, the archipelago was a no-man's land, freely used for coal mining by Britain, the USA, Norway, the Netherlands, Russia and many more. In 1920, several of these nations (excluding Russia, which was preoccupied with its own civil war at the time) decided to sign the Svalbard Treaty, which granted Norway sovereignty over Svalbard.

The treaty did maintain equal opportunity to develop and pursue commercial activities on the islands, which Russia and more than 40 other nations eventually signed. Norway and the newly-formed Soviet Union quickly jumped at the chance to exploit Svalbard for financial gain and in 1926, the Norwegians founded Longyearbyen, the archipelago’s most populous town. 

Named after the 3,074 foot-high (937m) pyramid-shaped rocky mountain that looms over the landscape, the mining town of Pyramiden was founded in 1910 by Sweden. The rights to use the settlement’s coalfields and its ownership were then bought by the Soviet Union in 1927.

Pyramiden is located halfway between Norway and the North Pole and about 31 miles (50km) from Longyearbyen, the capital of the Arctic Island Group. With its extremely remote location, the only way to access the settlement is by boat in the warmer months – or by snowmobile in the winter.

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In the 1930s, the Russian state-owned mining company Trust Arktikugol took over managing Pyramiden alongside fellow Svalbard settlement Barentsburg after the Soviet Union began extracting resources from the island. Trust Arktikugol built state-of-the-art facilities in the town, including an indoor gym and pool as well as a top-notch coal mine that started operating in the 1940s.

Following the Second World War, the Soviet Union allocated more and more money to Pyramiden and it quickly transformed from a sleepy settlement into a bustling coal-mining town. Being the USSR’s only settlement in the western world, the Soviet Union was determined to show off its ideology by creating the perfect industrialised town. Only the very best technicians and workers were recruited to relocate there and it was one of the most coveted job opportunities in the Soviet Union.

Several new buildings were built in the post-war years including a hospital, a recreational centre known as the Cultural Palace and a huge cafeteria. The settlement was also home to schools and daycare centres, so the miners’ families could join them in life at Pyramiden.

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Despite the harsh Arctic climate, Pyramiden became almost entirely self-sufficient. To combat the lack of nutrients in the frost-bitten earth, the Soviet Union imported shiploads of soil from Ukraine, creating a massive artificial lawn for flowers and plants to grow. The town also raised its own livestock such as pigs, cattle and chickens and built a greenhouse for growing fruits and vegetables. All of its power, meanwhile, was supplied by the coal mines.

The town’s inhabitants lived in several different residential halls, each of which had their own funny nicknames. The building for single men was known as ‘London’ while unmarried women lived in a building named ‘Paris’. ‘The Crazy House’ was where families would reside, named after the noisy children that played in the hallways. Short-term workers lived in ‘Gostinka’, which is Russian for hotel, although it was just another residential building.

This image shows a typical bedroom that can be found in one of Pyramiden’s residential buildings – its artwork and records have somehow survived. At its peak, the town was known for having an exceptionally high standard of living for all its residents and it was considered a privilege to move there.

Pictured here is the town’s library, which was also built following the Second World War. Residents of the town would come here in their leisure time to browse for new books to read, though each would have needed approval from the Soviet authorities.

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This eerie image shows one of the music rooms from the Cultural Palace. Its instruments, such as the accordion and keyboard in this picture, have (partially) managed to survive the cold. 

The Cultural Palace was also home to a huge gym, where basketball and other sports were regularly played. In this image, you can see a basketball court, plus an indoor football field. A mezzanine floor held the auditorium, where proud parents and sports spectators would watch the games.

When the town was a thriving hub of activity, its residents named the stretch of road where its main buildings were situated the ‘Avenue Champs Élysées’ after the most famous avenue in Paris. This road was home to the town’s community centre, gym, pool, sauna and cafeteria.

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Pictured here is what claims to be the most northern piano in the world, located inside Pyramiden’s Cultural Palace. The piano was brought to the settlement by boat, along with various other instruments. The dedicated recreation centre was also home to ballet studios, a music school, a weight room and a theatre equipped for film screenings and live performances.

A playground for the town’s children, equipped with swings, slides and a small jungle gym as well as a playing field were also installed for use during the warmer months over summer. Just a few rusty swings and a slide remain.

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Situated in the middle of the town, the cafeteria was once a large and magnificent building that was open 24 hours a day and catered up to 1,000 people at a time, serving traditional Russian food such as borscht and blinis.

The cafeteria was decorated with a beautifully intricate Soviet-style mosaic depicting the landscape and wildlife of the Svalbard region, which can still be seen on the wall: look out for polar bears and seals hidden amongst the dusting of snow.

At Pyramiden’s peak in the 1980s, the population of the mining community was over 1,000 people, ethnically comprised of both Russians and Ukrainian coal miners and their families. This made it the largest settlement of the Svalbard archipelago at the time.

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The financial crisis that led to the Soviet Union's collapse during the 1990s was one of the major factors that caused Pyramiden’s decline. The falling price of coal, as well as the limited supply that could be mined in the Pyramiden area due to high extraction costs, made mining a lot less profitable than anticipated.

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The final strike occurred on 29 August 1996, when a charter flight from Vnukovo Airlines was travelling from Moscow to Svalbard Airport crashed as a result of descending too early, killing all 141 on board. Many of these passengers were workers at Pyramiden's coal mine and their families; the toll of fatalities added up to around 10% of the town’s population at the time. Morale hit an all-time low and the community was sadly unable to recover.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Pyramiden’s funding drastically depleted, which caused increasingly poor work conditions in the mines and low salaries for the miners. Trust Arktikugol was forced to close the doors of its mining company in 1998, ceasing operation after 53 years of service. As a result, around 300 workers who still lived there sadly lost their jobs and homes and the majority left the settlement over the following months seeking new opportunities. Some residents stayed to work for Arktikugol in Barentsburg and others returned to Russia.

After the mine’s closure and all its residents had left, Pyramiden remained empty for around a decade. Many of nearby Barentsburg’s residents claimed much of Pyramiden’s leftover machinery and used its empty buildings and land as a storage facility.

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Much of the town looks as it did the day it was abandoned. For instance, with its posters and maps still on the walls, at first glance Pyramiden’s community building doesn’t look like it has been deserted for almost 30 years (aside from a few broken windows).

Chilling Arctic temperatures have caused Pyramiden’s buildings to be covered in a thick layer of permafrost which has beautifully preserved its architecture, literally freezing it in time. It’s thought that the town’s buildings may withstand the extreme climate for hundreds of years and they serve as a stony reminder of the decline of the Soviet Union.

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The old mine shafts, structures and equipment stand tall like rusty skeletons, a reminder of the town’s former glory. The dock may be a shadow of its former self, but boats (like the one pictured) still visit Pyramiden: adventure excursions and the odd supply ship do occasionally sail in. 

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Inside the Brutalist-style housing complexes lie discarded jars, cups left on tables, torn newspapers plastered on walls and folded clothes, reflecting how the town’s former residents left in something of a hurry. The fragments which its former population left behind offer an intimate glimpse into the lives of those who called Pyramiden home.

This is the former dining room of the chemical plant, where the miners and their families would eat every day. With its old furniture and decorations remarkably intact, the empty room looks like it could still welcome visitors. Petals or leaves can still be seen on several potted plants, which, like the majority of the town’s remains, have been well preserved due to the extremely cold climate. 

One of Pyramiden’s most beautiful ruins is its incredible, once-heated swimming pool which was a favourite hangout for residents from capital Longyearbyen during their visits to the town. Its Soviet-era architecture bears witness to the town’s golden days, when the USSR wanted to showcase its majesty to the outside world.

Possibly Pyramiden’s most notable feature is its monument of Vladimir Lenin, which watches over its ghostly remains from the heart of the town. The bust is known as the northernmost statue of the Soviet Union leader in the world.

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After its closure, the settlement attracted plenty of unwanted guests. Some locals believe vengeful former residents damaged many of the surviving buildings and stole leftover belongings, though this could simply have been ordinary vandals. Filing cabinets have been ransacked, windows smashed and furniture has been strewn across buildings.

Pyramiden has since been resettled by an array of wildlife, including seagulls. Pictured here are several birds nesting in the frosted windowsills of one of the town’s empty buildings.

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Arctic foxes have reclaimed Pyramiden’s old streets and enjoy roaming freely around its buildings. Now a hot spot for seagulls, foxes and polar bears, the ghost town has become a hugely popular area for nature wildlife photographers.

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Those wanting a truly authentic Pyramiden experience can stay overnight in the town’s hotel, a former residential house that was transformed into a hotel in the 1980s. Formerly known as Hotel Tulpan, it closed after the town was abandoned but was later re-opened in 2013 as the Pyramiden Hotel. It has become popular with travellers, students and residents from Longyearbyen. The hotel is decorated in Soviet-era fashion and features a small museum dedicated to the town's history. 

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Just a handful of residents still remain in Pyramiden, who either work at the hotel or have become guides to tourists wanting to explore and learn the history of the ghost town. Its few residents are armed with guns to protect themselves against polar bear attacks. Oslo offers direct flights to Longyearbyen, and from there, visitors can take a three-hour snowmobile or boat trip to the settlement. Although there are currently no plans to try and revive the town, Pyramiden serves as a spooky symbol of Soviet-era Russia which continues to draw tourists from all over the world.

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