Permafrost Museum, Underground research museum in Igarka, Russia
The Permafrost Museum in Igarka is an underground facility with tunnels built roughly 14 meters below the surface. The passages maintain year-round temperatures between minus 4 and minus 6 degrees Celsius, created by the natural conditions of the frozen ground.
The site traces back to a research laboratory founded in 1936, but was established as a museum only in 1965. It preserves records from the era of a planned railroad project that was supposed to be built under Stalin but was abandoned after his death in 1953.
The museum displays how people in this region build their homes and live adapted to extreme cold and frozen ground. You can see how traditional techniques and modern science work together to survive in this harsh environment.
Visitors receive thermal protective clothing such as silver coats and wool boots before entering to withstand the cold in the underground chambers. You should allow time for your visit, as the extreme cold can be tiring and your body needs time to adapt to it.
The museum preserves objects of incredible age, including bird cherry trees and larches that are tens of thousands of years old. Historic newspapers and personal items from World War II are also kept here, showing how people in this extreme region documented their history.
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