In the History Spot section, we share rare snapshots of old Norilsk as seen by our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Can you recognize the modern city in this small street?
History spot
New Year tree, shine!
#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Throughout the city’s history, it has moved about a dozen times, following the changing cultural and social centers. The first public street New Year tree, according to the recollections of Norilsk residents, was erected on December 30, 1939 - in front of the building ...
Holiday is coming!
#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The desire to have a New Year fun does not depend on time or place. The holiday came to everyone equally, even in those years when Norilsk residents had nothing to decorate their Christmas trees with. From the memoirs of one of the first Norilsk ...
“You can fly there only by plane…”
#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The residents of Snezhnogorsk are either workers of the hydroelectric power station or their wives, children, parents. They also have a common product - energy, due to which Norilsk, Dudinka, and Igarka live. The construction of a hydroelectric power station on Taimyr was first thought ...
Arctica opening became incentive for sports activities
#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Families, neighbourhoods, houses, towns, cities, and the country cheered for hockey players. In Norilsk, the love for this sport was particularly fuelled by the opening of the Arctica sports palace. Its own indoor ice arena launched a new round of sports development in our ...
Oasis in winter city
#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. But it did not stop at the stage of ‘red tents’ where brave polar explorers spend the winter. The goal was to provide Norilsk residents with the same level of everyday comfort as in any city on the mainland. The most obvious step in ...
‘Snowfighting’ term originated in Norilsk
#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Snow drifts have been and remain a huge problem for our city. And Norilsk snow removal services are the only ones in the country that were initially engaged not just in road clearing, but in snowfighting. Until Norilsk learnt to cope with the snow element, ...
Norilsk snowstorms force people to reckon with them
#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Climate is not a matter of comfort for us. It forces us to reckon with it every day, influencing both everyday plans and the entire life of the city and the combine’s work. Snow and snowstorms have become, one might say, our main attraction. ...
How Norilsk drama theater stage born
#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Firstly, its name did not include the name of V. Mayakovsky - it was awarded only on the theater’s 20th anniversary. Secondly, it did not have the current name either: at first the theater was called the Second Polar (taking into account that the ...
How Oganer hospital built
#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. At that time, the government decree on the further development of the Norilsk combine included the design of a thousand-bed hospital. However, designing does not mean building: 25 years passed before its completion in 1993. The project for the current hospital in Oganer had at ...