TRIP TO BARENTSBURG

THE USSR TO THE SVALBARD ISLANDS

Barentsburg (in Russian language Баренцбург) in winter is reachable by snowmobile, in summer is the first stop of the Hurtigruten expeditions but you could visit it also with a daily tour from Longyearbyen.
This is the only mining settlement dating back to the Soviet period still operating on the Svalbard Islands and has an important geopolitical value.

 

About 450 Russian live here, mainly engaged in the mines of the Russian state company Arktickugol.
Tourism is the other important source of income and, besides the rapid visits, you can stay in a hotel or hostel.

 

 

Disembarking from the ship, the long staircase leads to the main square.

This place certainly brings back to the URSS period, both for Soviet-style buildings, and for the constant presence of murals, writings and a bust of Lenin.

 

 

Going past the playground and the Orthodox church, you see the old airport, which currently only allows the landing of helicopters.

 

 

The post office allows both to send postcards and to stamp the passport.

The visit ends at the theater for a show of Russian dances and songs.

 

 

For those taking part in the Hurtigruten expedition, the travel continues north to Magdalenfjorden.