onedc SM Developer/Designer

Photograph: Alamy

Pyramiden, Svalbard, Norway


If you’re looking for the world’s most
northerly grand piano, then a trip to
Pyramiden, an abandoned Russian coal-mining
settlement in the Svalbard archipelago is in
order. The deserted town, which features a
big, steeple-shaped Soviet monument, a
children’s playground, a sports hall and, yes, a
couple of pianos, functioned as recently as
1998 when the last of the coal was extracted.
Now you can visit by boat or snowmobile and
Trust Arktikugol – the coal-mining company
that operates on the islands there - has been
renovating parts of the settlement to make the
desolate and icy place more accommodating
for tourists.