Naryan-Mar: Zapolyarny Capital Attractions

Few tourists decide on a trip to Naryan-Mar. The sights of this northern city are, first of all, its geographical position, color and originality.

Journey to the Russian tundra

The city of Naryan-Mar is the only one within the Nenets Autonomous District of Russia. It is located just beyond the Arctic Circle, a hundred kilometers from the coast of the cold Barents Sea. Fifteen thousand kilometers separates Naryan-Mar from Moscow, 350 km - from the nearest railway station Usinsk. You can get to it from the city by land only by a special road.

What can be interesting for tourists Naryan-Mar? Places of interest in its classic understanding - there are few of them here. But they do not go to this city for this. People come here to feel the local flavor, to feel the severity of the northern life, to get acquainted with the rich traditions of the local population.

The city of Naryan-Mar lies in the tundra natural zone, within the subarctic climatic zone. Winter here is long, but relatively mild (as for its latitudes). Two weeks (from December 14 to 29) in Naryan-Mar lasts a polar night. The summer in the Zapolyarny capital is short and cool with average temperatures of 12-14 degrees. Although occasionally here there are "bouts" of this summer heat - warm greetings from the Kazakhstan steppes!

About 25 thousand people live in Naryan-Mar. A quarter of them are Nenets indigenous people. The local region is very rich in oil and gas, the mining of which are engaged in several large companies. But the Nenets, apparently, realize that the "fuel resource" will last for a short time. Therefore, they do not abandon their ancient crafts. They are still engaged in hunting, fishing and reindeer herding.

A deer for locals is an animal almost sacral. This is a vehicle, and warm clothing, and food. Even on the flag of the city is depicted a deer head with branched beautiful horns. By the way, it is in Naryan-Mar that you can try venison, which is cooked in different versions.

Naryan-Mar: features, crafts, traditions

So, what else can surprise the guest Naryan-Mar? The sights of the city are, first of all, its people, traditions and crafts. The latter are kept very carefully. Here, till now, handmade warm mittens, fur hats, ornaments, tambourines and belts are made by hand.

By the way, foreign tourists are very fond of Naryan-Mar. On annual festivals and holidays, Finns, Norwegians, French people come here with great joy ...

Foreign guests with great surprise discover a rich and incredibly delicious local cuisine. True gourmets are delighted with tasting venison and stroganina. In summer you can enjoy delicious tundra gifts - berries cloudberries, cranberries, cowberries and blueberries.

Naryan-Mar: sightseeing of the city

There are not many architectural or historical monuments in this city. Naryan-Mar emerged only at the very end of the XIX century. The real decoration of the city is the building of the main post office - an elegant two-storey building made of timber, decorated with a tower. It was built in the middle of the last century. Another architectural monument of Naryan-Mar is the building of the local administration with an elegant ten-meter spire.

It will be very interesting for local historians to visit the local museum of local lore, which is located on Victory Street. It was founded in the distant 1929. To date, the museum has a huge collection of 32,000 different exhibits. These are samples of rocks, bones of ancient animals, objects of culture and everyday life of the Nenets and much more.

Among the monuments of Naryan-Mar is to allocate a monument to Yak-7B - the heroic aircraft of Captain Tarasov. It was built with the money of local residents and shot down 12 enemy aircraft during the Great Patriotic War.

Canyon Big Gate

Naryan-Mar is a great transit point for visiting the real natural wonder - the Grand Gate canyon. A unique geological monument is located 150 km to the west of the city, on the banks of the Belaya River, and covers an area of 212 hectares.

Here the rocks and minerals of the Timan Ridge come out to the surface, creating a picturesque and unique landscape. In some places, the canyon breaks reach a height of 80-90 meters. Within the natural monument you can see the classical tundra. Here grows bluegrass blue, scab black, gentian arctic and some other plants listed in the Red Book.

The Grand Gates Canyon is of great interest to paleontologists. So, on the slopes and cliffs of the canyon were found trilobites, corals, teeth of shellfish, prints of ancient plants.