The Biggest City Above the Arctic Circle: Murmansk and Its Port

Murmansk holds a strange distinction: it is the largest city in the world north of the Arctic Circle, a place of nearly 300,000 people built where almost nothing should be. Founded in 1916 as Russia ice-free Arctic port, it sits on the Kola Bay, kept open all year by a quirk of the Gulf Stream. For travelers it is the gateway to the Russian Arctic, and the city itself is a fascinating, hardy place worth a day before you head into the wild.

A Working Arctic Harbour

The port is the reason Murmansk exists, and it still dominates the city. Cranes, cargo ships and the vessels of the worlds only fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers line the Kola Bay. The retired icebreaker Lenin, the first nuclear-powered surface ship ever built, is now a museum moored at the quay, and stepping aboard is the single best way to understand the citys role in opening the frozen Northern Sea Route.

Alyosha, Guarding the City From the Hill

High above town stands one of the tallest statues in Russia: a 35-metre concrete soldier known affectionately as Alyosha, the memorial to the Defenders of the Soviet Arctic. Murmansk was bombed relentlessly in World War II yet never fell, and from Alyosha feet you get a sweeping view over the bay, the cranes and the surrounding tundra hills. It is the citys emotional high point in every sense.

Living With the Polar Night

Murmansk life is shaped by extreme light. For about forty days each winter the sun never rises, the famous polar night, and in summer it never sets. The city copes with bright public art, cosy cafes and a stubborn cheerfulness. Visiting in winter means short blue twilights and a real shot at the aurora; summer brings the endless daylight of the midnight sun.

Murmansk is tough, remote and genuinely unlike anywhere else in Russia: an Arctic port-city of icebreakers, a giant stone soldier and a sky that forgets how to behave. Spend a day here to feel the edge of the inhabited world before venturing further north.