AN ABANDONED Soviet town that was once a bustling hub and home to thousands of residents is now dominated by polar bears.
The creepy ghost town of Pyramiden on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard lies frozen in time since being deserted 25 years ago.
GettyThe abandoned Soviet town of Pyramiden on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard lies frozen in time[/caption]
AFPThe town is now dominated by polar bears after its residents fled more 25 years ago[/caption]
GettyPyramiden translates to The Pyramid because it sits at the foot of a triangular-shaped mountain[/caption]
Tucked away in a bay off the Sassenfjorden, far above the Arctic Circle, deadly polar bears are the closest things this town has to citizens.
Pyramiden, which translates to The Pyramid because it sits at the foot of a triangular-shaped mountain, was once a thriving mining community.
Home to more than 1,000 people, it boasted a theatre, a library and studios for both art and music.
During the Soviet era, miners from modern-day Ukraine were sent there to work, forming a bustling community.
There were schools, a 24-hour canteen and sports complex, but they are all gone.
The only thing that remains is a statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, which is the furthest monument to him in the world.
The town was first founded by Sweden in 1910 but was sold to the USSR 17 years later.
From 1955 to 1998, up to nine million tonnes of coal were thought to have been pumped out of Pyramiden.
But when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the mining dried up and eventually came to a halt in 1998.
As a result, people flooded out of the town and everything that was left behind has remained untouched.
The only thing occupying the ghost town now are the terrifying polar bears.
However, six people operate as rifle-carrying warders in the summer.
Despite the nearest settlement being some 31 miles away, dark tourism has been gently ticking along since 2013.
However, you can only get to Pyramiden by boat or snowmobile for nine months of the year.
To make things even more spooky, one visitor to the town in 2018 wrote in Haaretz: “There are thousands of angry polar bears all around us.”
Even the Svalbard Tourism Board describes the town as a “living museum”.
Svalbard belongs to Norway under the Svalbard treaty, which allows citizens from all its member countries to become residents.
The treaty reads: “All citizens and all companies of every nation under the treaty are allowed to become residents and to have access to Svalbard including the right to fish, hunt or undertake any kind of maritime, industrial, mining or trade activity.”
Elsewhere, an abandoned Chinese town has been given a new lease of life thanks to TikTok.
Perched on stunning hills in China, the once thriving fishing community of Houtouwan has been abandoned for decades.
But it’s now become a hot destination for TikTokers and influencers, who are headed to the town to take dramatic photos.
GettyThe only thing that remains is a statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, which is the furthest monument to him in the world[/caption]
GettyPyramiden’s swimming pool has been left to rot[/caption]
AFPPeople flooded out of the town in 1998[/caption]
GettyDark tourism has been gently ticking along since 2013[/caption]
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