Seydozero Lake

Seydozero lies in a basin inside the Lovozero massif, ringed by steep slopes rising six hundred metres above it, about eight kilometres long and up to two and a half wide, reached either by walking in over a pass from Revda or by crossing the larger Lovozero lake by boat and then walking. Its name comes from seid, the Sami word for a sacred object or place, and the lake and the massif are holy in Sami tradition, with the whole area treated as a place where certain behaviour is required. On the cliff of Kuyvchorr above the northern shore is a dark figure some seventy metres tall formed by lichen, seepage and rock discolouration - Kuyva, which Sami tradition explains in several tellings and which is geological in fact. The lake has attracted a heavy modern esoteric literature about a lost civilisation, none of it supported. What is real is a remote Arctic lake in a mountain bowl, and a living Sami sacred landscape.

What you'll find

• The basin - a lake ringed by slopes rising six hundred metres.
• Kuyva - a seventy-metre figure on the cliff, formed by lichen and rock staining.
• The Sami significance - a sacred lake in a landscape named for seid places.
• The approach - a pass walk from Revda or a boat crossing and a hike.

When to go

July to September; the massif holds snow late and the passes are serious in winter. Two to four days including the walk in.

What to expect

This is a Sami sacred site and behaviour matters - do not climb on seids or leave rubbish. The esoteric literature about lost cities is invention. Getting in takes a full day either way. Weather in the massif changes fast and there is no shelter. Mosquitoes are severe.

Nearby

Lovozero village is the Sami centre; the Khibiny are west across the valley.

Key facts