32 Abandoned Cities That Are Slowly Being Reclaimed by Nature

17. Pyramiden, Norway – The Arctic Ghost Town

If there were ever a time capsule of Soviet life, it would be Pyramiden, an abandoned coal-mining town in Norway’s Arctic Svalbard archipelago. Founded by the Soviet Union in 1927, Pyramiden was meant to be a model communist settlement, complete with grand buildings, a cultural center, and even the world’s northernmost Lenin statue. However, when the mines shut down in 1998, the entire town was abandoned overnight. The harsh Arctic climate has preserved Pyramiden remarkably well—its buildings, murals, and furniture remain frozen in time, as if the residents might return at any moment. A grand Soviet-style cultural center still stands, complete with an untouched grand piano and faded posters. Old apartments remain furnished, their curtains swaying in the polar winds. The town’s iconic red-brick hotel remains intact, now serving as an eerie outpost for adventurous visitors. But while humans have long since departed, nature has not. The Arctic tundra is slowly reclaiming the town—moss carpets the floors of abandoned offices, Arctic foxes roam the empty streets, and reindeer graze near the collapsed mines. Polar bears occasionally wander through, a stark reminder that nature is retaking what was once hers.