“Frozen Apartments of Vorkuta”: Incredible Photos from The Heart of The Coldest City in All of Europe – Design You Trust

“Frozen Apartments of Vorkuta”: Incredible Photos from The Heart of The Coldest City in All of Europe

Vorkuta (Nenets for “the abundance of bears”, “bear corner”) is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin at the river Vorkuta. Vorkuta is the fourth largest city north of the Arctic Circle and the easternmost town in Europe. It is also the coldest city in all of Europe, boasting a record cold temperature of -52 degrees C (-61 degrees F).

More: Arseniy Kotov, Instagram h/t: Wikipedia, Meduza

The town of Vorkuta, situated in the permafrost belt about 110 miles from the Arctic Ocean, was founded by the Vorkuta River after large coal deposits were discovered in the area. The first detachment of prisoners was dispatched to the spot in the early 1930s, and they soon constructed a workers’ settlement known as Rudnik. By the start of the Stalinist Terror, the area was already home to one of the biggest and harshest camps in the Soviet Gulag: Vorkutlag (which included the Rechlag camp for political prisoners). In 1943, the many settlements around the coal mines, where the high salaries also attracted workers from across the USSR, were reorganized into the town of Vorkuta, now Europe’s easternmost city.

Soviet officials declared an amnesty after Stalin’s death, but the pardon did not extend to many political prisoners, leading to a massive prisoner uprising in Vorkuta, which the authorities brutally crushed. Since the 1990s, the town has been in industrial decline, the mines have outlived their usefulness, and residents have been leaving. Vorkuta is technically the fourth most populous settlement north of the Arctic Circle (after Murmansk, Norilsk, and Norway’s Tromsø), but this is likely based on numbers that are no longer accurate. According to unofficial counts, there are now no more than 50,000 people left in Vorkuta. Today, it’s one of Russia’s fastest dying cities.

These amazing photos were taken by Arseniy Kotov, a photographer specializing in photos of towns in the former Eastern Bloc.

“In this house in the settlement of Severny, there is only one inhabited apartment left, but the whole house is still heated. In many apartments this winter from severe frosts burst pipes and the building inside and outside was overgrown with icicles and snow,” he writes.

















If you want more awesome content, subscribe to 'Oh, Design You Trust,' our brand new Facebook page! Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

More Inspiring Stories

Photographer Hires Low-Cost Retouchers On Fiverr, And The Results Are Hilarious!
Fantastic Photos Show What An Abandoned Soviet Submarine Looks Like From Inside
Batmobile With Tank Engine Put Up For Sale In Russia
Gorgeous Female Portrait Photography By Joan Carol
Awesome Moody Lifestyle Portrait Photography By Mark Singerman
Amazing Anatomical Photographs from Alec Fraser's Handbook of Brain Surgery, 1890
Then-and-Now Photos of Abandoned Detroit School
Sharon Stone And Anton Rivas In "Dog Day Afternoon" Photoshoot (2012)
Spectacular Wining Photos Of The Siena International Photo Awards 2018
Minimalist And Colorful Fine Art Photography By Valentina Loffredo
Candid Photos Show Fashion Styles of Teenage Girls From the 1990s
Selena's Rare Coca-Cola Photo Shoot, 1994
Photographer Sally Mann Wins 2021 Prix Pictet for Series on Wildfires
The Immersive Black and White Photography of David Yarrow
Gloomy Pripyat Shown By Romanian Photographer Cristian Lipovan
Spectacular Winning Photos from The Wildlife Photographer of The Year 2020
Breathtaking Underwater Photograhy By Tim Davis
"Spuds You Like": Spectacular Winning Photos From The Potato Photographer Of The Year 2020
Stunning Winning Photos Of Nature inFocus Photography Contest 2021
2014 National Geographic Photo Contest, Week 5
Beautiful Portrait Photos of Actress Jan Smithers in the 1960s and ’70s
Neil Zeller's Snaps Were Taken Across Canada, Where He Photographs The Northern Lights Dancing Across A Dark Night Sky
An Artist Puts Our Modern World’s Problems On A Plate, Literally
New York City In 1980s Through Photographs By Janet Delany