Grumant

Grumant was a Soviet coal settlement on the southern shore of Isfjorden that held over a thousand people at its height and was abandoned in 1961 when the seam and the economics gave out, and the buildings were left standing: apartment blocks, a cultural building, a railway that ran along the shore to the loading point at Colesbukta. Everything is collapsing under the weather, and the site is protected as cultural heritage.

Background

Grumant was established in 1912 as a company town. Counting Coles Bay, which served as the settlement's port, its population reached a peak of 1,106 in 1951. The site is on Spitsbergen, the largest island of the archipelago, about 10 kilometres west-southwest of Longyearbyen. The name is of Pomor origin and has also been used for the whole of Svalbard. It may be a corrupted form of Greenland, a land with which Svalbard was once confused.

Source: Wikipedia, "Grumant"

What you'll find

• The apartment blocks - the Soviet housing left standing since 1961.
• The shore railway - the line that ran to the loading point at Colesbukta.
• The collapse - buildings coming down steadily under Arctic weather.
• The heritage protection - the status covering everything on the site.

When to go

June to September for boats, March to May for snowmobile. There is no road at any season. Trips run from Longyearbyen.

Before you go

Buildings are unstable and entering them is prohibited and dangerous. Everything on site older than 1946 is protected and nothing may be moved or taken. Polar bear protection is required ashore.

Nearby

Barentsburg is west, and Longyearbyen is east.

Key facts