Pyramiden · The Soviet Town That Was Left Behind

Pyramiden is a Soviet coal-mining town on the Svalbard archipelago: a cultural centre, a swimming pool, a primary school and statues, all supplied from the Soviet Union. It was evacuated wholesale in 1998, leaving an empty town.

Pianos, posters and bookshelves are still where they were; the Arctic air is dry and things do not easily spoil. Polar bears walk in the streets.

People go back in summer to maintain it, and a small number of visitors stay in the old hotel. After dark, no one goes outside.

Haunted Ruins / Svalbard · Norway / 1910