Fossilized animal remains preserved in the North under permafrost conditions attract the attention of not only venerable paleontologists, but also many curious tourists.
All over the world there are only two permafrost museums, and both of them are located in Russia, beyond the Arctic Circle. The larger of them is located in the suburbs of Yakutsk in the old adits. The second, slightly smaller, but therefore no less interesting, is located on the outskirts of the small town of Igarka in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. And where else, if not in these, shackled by snow and ice, the edges, you can place the museum of permafrost. According to visitors' reviews, without visiting it, acquaintance with the Far North will be incomplete.
House with mammoth figures
Once the city of Igarka flourished thanks to the export of valuable timber, which from the Igara Sea Port went to many countries of the world. When active wood production was stopped, the town gradually began to lose its significance.
However, Igarka attracts many tourists, because here is one of the permafrost museums. On the outskirts of the city is a small wooden house decorated with elaborately carved images of mammoths.
There are very few exhibits in the house, the main miracle is under it. You need to go down to a depth of more than 10 meters, and there, among the interweaving of corridors and halls, you can see pristine ice. In fact, the corridors cut down in the thickness of the ice continue to great depths. But for safety reasons, tourists are not allowed there.
At the site of the Permafrost Museum in Igarka there was previously a scientific permafrost laboratory. Then back in 1965, in one of the many underground halls, an exposition was opened dedicated to the finds of scientists. The museum received the official status of a local history complex only in 1995.
Permafrost Breath
The descent to the museum begins on a steep wooden staircase. At a depth of about four meters, a decorative window was made, behind which you can see how the frozen soil looks like. Heat flows still penetrate to this depth, so the soil is penetrated by layers of transparent ice.
At a depth of 10 meters, there can be no question of any heat. Here, thick layers of secular ice are visible on the walls, and the walls are covered with a layer of snow. Before the tour you need to get warmer!
The main part of the Permafrost Research Museum’s exposition is higher (about 7 meters underground). Here is an extraordinary collection of relict ice, the oldest of which is more than fifty thousand years old.
Unique ice collection
On stands from thick logs are located samples of northern medicinal plants preserved in the thickness of the ice. It is also very interesting to see the trunks of relict trees frozen forever in the ground. From the analysis of wood samples, it became clear that their age is at least 24 thousand years. And many samples are much more ancient.
Among the collection of ancient ice presented at the museum, the most valuable piece of ice is considered to be an ice block from the outcrop of Ice Mountain, discovered in 1972. And the most beautiful sample of ice was brought from the Yenisei. It is crystal clear, with air bubbles frozen inside. Unfortunately, the photos in the Permafrost Museum in Igarka cannot convey all the beauty and grandeur of ice.
Time capsule
In 1950, scientists studying the properties of permafrost, set up a long-term experiment. In one of the ice halls they laid a kind of "time capsule" - a box with newspapers from the time of the war. The purpose of the experiment was to find out how well fragile objects can remain in permafrost. The opening of the capsule is planned in 2045, almost 100 years after the start of the experiment.
Endless winter
According to guest reviews, visiting the Permafrost Museum in Yakutsk is better in the summer. There is a significant contrast in temperatures when it is hot outside, and always -10 in a huge cave. Moreover, this cold is not supported artificially, such a temperature in this cave for many centuries.
In fact, the Museum is located in a huge glacier in the center of the protected mountain Chochur-Muran. Once this cave was used to store food, and since November 2008 the Permafrost Museum has been operating here.
The place was not chosen by chance, here even in the walls you can see how the eternal ice looks - the whole soil is literally penetrated by transparent ice paths. The entire cave is illuminated by colored lamps, from which ice crystals play and shimmer.
Museum Hall Tour
All guests at the entrance are given warm jackets and felt boots; nobody has managed to freeze yet.
Inside the cave of the Permafrost Museum is divided into several rooms. The first is met by the northern lord of the cold Chyskhaan, whose sculpture is carved from a single piece of ice and dressed in a traditional Yakut costume. And nearby are the familiar figures of Santa Claus and Snow Maiden. Young visitors especially like the fact that ice sculptures are allowed to touch.
The sculptors and museum workers showed remarkable imagination, making ice artifacts. Here you can lie on a transparent ice bed, covered in skins. Or sit on the magnificent throne of Chyskhaan. It is difficult to list all the ice figures of people and animals of the North - fishermen, hunters, deer and even a large fish made of transparent ice.
The land of Yakutia is famous for its diamonds. The girls who visited the Permafrost Museum really like the collection of ice decorations - replicas of famous jewelry. It is unfortunate that such a ring cannot be tried on.
Paleontological department
One of the ice halls is reserved for a kind of museum of paleo finds. The land of Yakutia is rich in fossils, well preserved in the conditions of eternal cold.
The main exhibit is the huge head of the Yukagir mammoth, found by hunters in 2002. Parts of fossil animals in such good preservation are extremely rare.
Near the bones of the so-called Kolyma rhino, there are a lot of tusks of mammoths and different parts of fossil animals. It is nice that the guides can tell interesting details about the find and value of any ancient exhibit.
Before entering this room there is a very realistic stuffed mammoth covered with shaggy brown hair. That's who you need to take a picture with.
Ice bar
In the Museum of permafrost, you can not only ride a hill or whisper your desire to Santa Claus. For those guests who have chilled in the realm of eternal cold, a unique Ice Bar is equipped in which all the dishes are cut out of ice. Here guests will be offered a warming drink from an ice cup. And then you can try the traditional food of the northern peoples - stroganina.
Kids will also not be bored - because there is the largest ice cream here. And “monkeys” - a local version of a cold treat, will offer to try.
Visiting the city with the Museum of Permafrost, it is worth exploring the entire ethnographic complex "Chochur-Muran", in the gallery of which the museum is located.
Several unique wooden houses have been preserved here, among which the Hunter's House, turned into a museum, stands out. Also on the territory there is a nursery of huskies and a pond in which many birds swim. It offers trips on reindeer or dog sledding, fishing and hunting, as well as the opportunity to see the traditional Yakut rites.