“The Kingdom of Permafrost” is a unique complex, which is a huge, always frozen cave near Mount Chochur-Muran on the outskirts of Yakutsk. In Soviet times, this place was used as a huge cellar for storing food.

The tourist complex first opened its doors to all visitors in 2008. Since then, it has become one of the main tourist sites in Yakutsk. Photos by: zavodfoto.

beautiful frozen cave

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city

Ulakhan-Sis is a mountain range with a length of about 200 km and a height of up to 754 meters located among the endless swampy forests in the north-east of Yakutia.

Here you can see a large number of various granite pillars 25-30 meters high. This is a very inaccessible place, people don’t live here. The first tourists started visiting it only a few years ago. Ulakhan-Sis on Google Maps. Photos by: Petr Ushanov.

on the very edge of the world

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city

A lot of people know about the picturesque remnant cliffs on the Manpupuner Plateau in the Northern Urals in the Republic of Komi.

However, in Russia, there is a number of similar places and one of them is the mountain range of the Ulakhan-Sis – a geological complex located in the polar part of Yakutia between the Indigirka and Alazeya rivers. The Ulakhan-Sis on Google Maps. Photos by: Sergei Karpukhin.

unique monument of nature

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city

“Lena Pillars” is a geological formation and a national park located on the banks of the Lena River in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), about 170 km south-west of Yakutsk. Lena Pillars are a complex of vertically elongated rocks up to 220 meters high stretching for many kilometers along the Lena River bank.

In 2012, this natural monument received the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the language of the locals, the pillars are called “Turuuk Hayalara” (“Mountains of Rising Gods”). The main objective of the park is the development of ecological tourism. Lena Pillars on Google Maps. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over magnificent stone pillars

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city

The Sinyaya River is a 597 km long river running through the territory of the Republic of Yakutia, the left tributary of the Lena River.

In the lower reaches of the river, not far from the confluence with the Lena and relatively close to Yakutsk, there is an amazing natural monument called Sinskiye Stolby (Pillars). Sinskiye Stolby on Google Maps. Photos by: Petr Ushanov.

amazing monument of nature

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city

Yakutsk is the capital of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the third city of the Far Eastern Federal District in terms of population (after Vladivostok and Khabarovsk) and the largest city in the world located in the permafrost zone.

Because of the severe climate, Yakutsk is often called one of the “coldest” cities on Earth. Photos by: Slava Stepanov.

fly over Yakutsk

Tags: Sakha Republic · Yakutsk city

Yakutsk is surrounded by many hills. In the Soviet era the tunnel in one of them, located near the mountain Chochur Muran, was used as a huge cellar for food storage. In November 2008, tourist center “The Kingdom of Permafrost” was opened here.

At the entrance to the “Kingdom” visitors receive warm coats and boots. It is necessary because in summer the temperature in the tunnel is minus 4 degrees Celsius. But in winter the temperature does not fall below minus 10 degrees C, so after minus 50 degrees C outside it is a good place to get warm. Photos by Alex Cheban

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Tags: Yakutsk city