dallas goes to pyramiden, an abandoned soviet mining town
CONTEXT
okay so basically im arctic monkey
in 2017 i saw a youtube video, the one above, and i was very inspired
i wanted to make a play out of this concept; a soviet ghost town in the arctic - but i had no time, no way to start it, no real story and no research
when i finished my degree i was offered a master's and now im doing a project rooted in playwriting/script development
i went on a trip up here, to the far far north, all the way up past the arctic circle, to see this place for myself - and to find if there was a story to be told
this is some of what i saw
pyramiden is owned by Trust Artikogul (Arctic Coal Trust), a russian state company that has owned pyramiden since it was established by the swedish in the 1910s
under the svalbard treaty of 1920, the land is norwegian and the settlement is operated by a russian company
a rifle must be worn at all times, by law, outside any settlement (there are two settlements large enough for this status on svalbard)
in pyramiden, our guide protected me and a few others with the rifle, in case of polar bear attack - which did not happen
this settlement was abandoned in 1998 due to a series of costly tragedies (a plane crash in 1996 and a large mine explosion in 1997)
it was re-opened to limited public access in 2007 and has since operated as a destination for soviet weebs like myself
pyramiden was an experimental cashless society, while also being a mining town. everything revolved around the mine and your job in the structure of the mine. food and housing was free, and depended on your job
this mural is in the canteen/social house of the settlement
in the months of darkness (november - february) there is a constant polar night and Billesfjorden freezes solid, cutting off pyramiden for months
in this time, the settlement would rely on overland shipments via snowmobile or helicopters
to deal with this, pyramiden established a successful collective farm and was extremely ecological, recycling everything, maintaining their appliances well past their expiry
these were the most practical of a practical people, svalbard and its conditions demands a level of toughness from those who choose to live there
the kgb headquarters in Barentsburg (the second largest settlement on Svalbard and still operating today) ordered that cultural exchanges, sports events/facilities and even a cinema be built in order to occupy the residents during downtime
a fear was that during the long months of winter darkness, and the close proximity of norwegian Longyearbyen, that a steep difference in living standards would put the status of the settlement at risk
for this reason, the russians in barentsburg/pyramiden lived very well during the cold war; they had higher wages than the ussr, a close community and lived through the allocated housing/food of the company, allowing them to send a lot of money back home
most of the miners here were a mix of russians from the western regions (Tula) and ukranians (donbass)
most contracts were one or two years, with options to extend if they wished - and many did
the buildings had many names, official designations were forgotten over time and nicknames now survive
the block for single men was London, the block for single women was Paris, the entrance to the mine was Mexico (because of the extreme heat) and the house for families (the one pictured on the right) was simply called 'crazy house'
these buildings are technically classed as skyscrapers and are unique in the arctic due to the high winds - their corners have been rounded to allow the high winds to curve around them
the main street of pyramiden is officially called "The Street Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Great October"
it was called the "champs elysees" by the locals, after the famous french landmark
pyramiden is also home to the northern most statue of vladimir lenin, here he is
im very tired and can talk about this anytime, if you ever wanna know more hit me up
thanks for reading, i highly recommend visiting!
