Underground Magic | Daily News in Russia

Ruskealsky gap is a place in Karelia. It’s a huge hole about ten meters (33 ft) deep with water on its bottom. As locals say it formed in the 1960s after strong explosions in the neighbouring quarry. The roof of the old waterlogged tunnels broke and fell into the water. A huge hole 20 x 30 m (65×100 ft) appeared on the surface.

Ruskealsky gap is a place in Karelia. It’s a huge hole about ten meters (33 ft) deep with water on its bottom. As locals say it formed in the 1960s after strong explosions in the neighbouring quarry. The roof of the old waterlogged tunnels broke and fell into the water. A huge hole 20 x 30 m (65×100 ft) appeared on the surface.

The main feature of the gap is its special microclimate. Due to the effect of “a cold sack” the ice in the remote corners of the mine never melts. Even in summer one can walk along it. However it’s not like that near the very hole.

The City Abandoned At the Worlds End | Daily News in Russia

Three days by car to Oslo, three hours by plane to Svalbard, Norway, five hours by an Arctic ship with a romantic name “Polar Girl” and you find yourself in the northernmost abandoned city: you are in Pyramiden.

Today nobody lives here. Not a single citizen. The last people left the city more than fifteen years ago. It’s only 1000 km from here to the north Pole. It makes the city inaccessible for looters. So Pyramiden looks almost untouched and it is inhabited by white bears only.
The city was a Soviet enclave in the west, they built only houses of good quality according to Soviet standards.

Those metal boxes on the windows are fridges.

Traditional fridges are not needed. In June temperature is not higher than 3-5 C (37-41F) above zero.

It’s the place where the northenmost monument to Lenin is located. He is looking at the age old glacier.

The poster says “To the West!”

People took only the most necessary things which they could transport by plane.

The Quarry That Was Luckily Forgotten | Daily News in Russia

Kadykovsky quarry became famous for its flux limestone of a very high quality. But when the place started to be flooded it got abandoned and soon was forgotten. A new project called “Balaklava Green” worth 2 billion dollars is going to bring second life to the quarry.

They want to create a resort area here, build hotels, SPA-centers etc. But for now it’s just a shelter for seagulls and ravens that like to enjoy this lake with blue water.

The territory of the quarry is closed, by the way. It’s forbidden to approach the lake due to the possible danger of rockslides. But the author of these photos took the risk anyway…

There are different versions regarding the quality of the water in the lake. Some even say it is salty. But in fact, it is rather pure and fresh.