There was a lot of interesting things in the Soviet Union, no matter what they said. And certainly none of us will see anything like this in the modern world. One of these unusual objects were settlements on Svalbard. There were three of them in total - Grumant, Barentsburg and Pyramid.
1. A bit of history
On this archipelago, a coal deposit was discovered in pre-revolutionary times. And then the country began to extract minerals there. The mining process was carried out until the 27th year. last century. From 1927 to 1931 almost no work was carried out. And only in 31st a trust was founded under the name "Arktikugol". It was he who returned to the intensive development of these places.
In a few years, the situation has completely changed, and by the 40th year, 500,000 tons of product were mined and sent to the mainland from the mines built on the island. This coal fully provided the northern region of the state. Naturally, with the beginning of the war, there were changes. The Germans destroyed mines, structures and buildings.
But as soon as our troops won a victory, they began to think about the resumption of coal mining. In 46, construction crews and miners were sent here. It took two years to raise the Grumant and Barentsburg mines from the ruins, to re-establish production on them. "Pyramid" appeared in the 56th year. Small towns with exactly the same names were built near all the mines.
2. Life in unusual cities
The main one was Barentsburg, and the famous one was Pyramid. It was about the last city that documentaries were filmed both in the Soviet Union and after its collapse. Life in each of the towns was almost the same, but for example, let's take the Pyramid.
The workers came here on a shift that lasted two years. Salaries here were high - up to a thousand rubles. A small part was given out, and the rest of the money was transferred to a savings book. Cash could be spent on purchasing goods in city shops. Basically, the choice was made on household appliances and appliances. People tried to get here to work with whole families, with children. Representatives of the younger generation were here in abundance.
The authorities took care of the city's infrastructure: a kindergarten, a comprehensive school and even a ballet studio. But these are common occurrences even in other small villages. The most interesting thing is that in these three cities everything was free. The workers and their families lived in apartments in comfortable conditions. Nobody paid for housing. And in city canteens, food was free, and people could eat here at any time convenient for them.
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The city had its own greenhouses, in which various vegetables were grown: onions, cucumbers, tomatoes. A pig-breeding complex and a livestock farm worked. In addition, a gym, a swimming pool and a gym with exercise equipment functioned. Nobody paid anything for all this either.
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In the late nineties, the city was "mothballed" due to the fact that the cost of the mined coal became very high. Currently, there are five people in it in winter and sixty in summer. The settlement of Pyramida joined the list of Russian ghost towns in the North.
Continuing the topic, read an equally interesting story Sarov - a Soviet city that was not on the maps, but there is still no end to those who want to live in it.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/170620/54941/