The Nenets Autonomous Okrug is one of the young and promising Russian regions for the development of Arctic tourism. This is a land of miracles and mysteries that will remain untouched in the treasury of world knowledge for a long time to come.
The Nenets Autonomous Okrug attracts tourists with the unique nature of the Arctic, the opportunity to witness the amazing edge of the northern lights, polar days and nights, to observe animals and birds living in the northern latitudes, to get acquainted with the original culture of the small indigenous peoples of the North, their way of life and traditions.
Extreme lovers travel here to experience unforgettable and exciting adventures. Extreme tourists are attracted by the inaccessibility of the region and harsh climatic conditions.
The Nenets Autonomous Okrug has unique tourist resources for the development of Arctic tourism as a whole complex, which includes various areas: cultural, educational, environmental, event, children and youth, ethnographic, religious, industrial tourism, Arctic hunting and fishing, etc.
Tourism
Traveling around the district is best started with its administrative center, the main transport hub of the region - the city of Naryan-Mar (Nen., Nyaryana Mar ”- the red city).
Naryan-Mar is located beyond the Arctic Circle, located in the lower reaches of the Pechora River, 110 km from the Barents Sea. The distance from Moscow to Naryan-Mar is 1501 km, from Arkhangelsk to Naryan-Mar - 660 km.
The geographical location of the district determines the main role in the transportation of passengers by air (the flight Moscow-Naryan-Mar is 2.5 hours), in winter the district can be reached by car winters, the Usinsk-Naryan-Mar road.
There are 2 museums in the city: the Nenets Local History and Historical, Cultural and Landscape Museum-Reserve "Pustozersk", the purpose of which is to ensure the preservation, study and public presentation of an integral historical, cultural and natural complex of the Russian North.
7 km from the city of Naryan-Mar, the Center of Arctic Tourism is located, which acts as a tourist information center and is a state Arctic tour operator, offering a wide range of excursion and ethnographic programs, active and extreme tours, unique events.
An ethnographic complex is located on the territory of the Center, demonstrating the faith and customs of the Nenets. In the exposition plague of the Komi and Nenets peoples, residents and guests of the district get acquainted with the life, traditions and crafts of the northern peoples, learn about national costumes and customs. Guests of the district can try themselves in national sports by taking part in diving over sledges, throwing a national ax and a tynzey.
On the territory of the ethnographic complex there is a coral with reindeers. Guests can ride a reindeer sleigh, take memorable photos, feed the deer and take pictures with them.
The status of the "lost world" helped the district to preserve a unique culture. In the cultural heritage of the region, the traditions of several peoples intertwined, rooted deep into the millennia.
To visit the district means to get acquainted with one of the peoples of the Far North - the Nenets. Guests of the NAO will be able to visit the camp of reindeer herders, live the life of nomads of the tundra, who have not changed their traditional way of life for centuries. Recently, the esoteric component of ethnographic tourism is gaining fame; shamans come to Nenets from all over Russia for spiritual purification.
Pustozersk is known as a place of exile for important "state criminals." Protopop Avvakum, the first Russian writer, leader of the Russian Old Believers, spent almost 15 years in an earthen prison. Habakkuk Peru owns more than 70 works, 64 of which he wrote in Pustozersk, including the world-famous Life. According to legend, it was here that the founder of the new Russian literature was executed, as well as his students. Today, the ancient city is abandoned by residents, and is a kind of museum-monument to the conquerors of the Far North under the open sky.
The region’s natural landscapes are unique, combining the tundra, forest tundra and northern taiga with hills and rock formations. In the Nenets Autonomous Okrug there are 12 specially protected natural territories.
The Vaigach Island State Nature Reserve is an amazing place in the European North where unforgettable landscapes, flora and fauna of the Arctic are combined with an invaluable historical and cultural heritage. On the territory of the reserve there are parking sites of the Stone Age.
Vaigach Island is a unique “sacred island” of the indigenous peoples of the North. Vaigach’s unique natural resources make it possible to formulate and implement such tourism destinations as ecological, Arctic, adventure (hunting, fishing) tourism with ethnic flavor.
One of the most memorable and interesting places for tourism in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug is the Stone Town area. These are the white remnants of limestone cliffs to which the forces of nature have given a variety of, often bizarre shapes that resemble people, animals, buildings. They are samples of frosty weathering. The white quartz sand found here can be mistaken for snow from afar. The cave and grottoes complement the image of the mysterious world. The tourist resources of the natural monument contribute to the development of ecological (organization of environmental and educational events), adventure (rafting, hunting, fishing), extreme tourism.
Pym-Va-Shor (translated from the Komi language as “hot water stream”) is a thermal tract on the border of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Komi Republic. Specially protected natural area. The water temperature in the springs in winter and summer is from +18 to + 28 ° С (previously it reached + 40 ° С). Water sources contain a wide range of trace elements. The origin of the source is volcanic. The thermal mineral springs of Pym-Va-Shor are objects of geological heritage, since these are the only hot springs beyond the Arctic Circle.
There are archaeological sites of the Stone Age, a Samoyed temple, several karst caves. This section of the tundra is also unique in the botanical sense of the biological diversity of the territory, including rare and relict species of flora and fauna, along with typical tundra vegetation, spruce-juniper-birch-willow woodland grows, where rare plants are found.
On the territory of the okrug, in the Malaya Zemlya tundra, the Nenetsky State Nature Reserve is located, with a total area of 313.4 thousand ha, of which 181.9 thousand ha (58.04%) are in the marine area. The only flat subarctic and arctic tundra in Europe, the habitat of valuable plant and animal species, have remained intact here. The abundance of wetland vegetation in the reserve attracts thousands of birds to their nests and tens of thousands during the spring and autumn migration.
The tourist calendar of events in the district includes unique holidays and festivals: “Eat along” (Nen., New Year), sports of reindeer herders of the Nenets district “Syamyanhat Mereta” (Nen, fastest), “Deer Day”, “Fisherman's Day”, national holiday “Varna Yala” (Nen., Raven’s Day) ”, winter national games“ Kanin Mebeta ”(Nen., Kanin heroes),“ Live, tradition ”, Pustozersk Day, cross-country snowmobile competitions“ Buran dei ”.
The Nenets Autonomous Okrug is a member of the Silver-Necklace of Russia inter-regional historical and cultural tourism project. The project combines the routes of 11 entities that are part of the North-West Federal District of the Russian Federation. The region is represented in the register of project routes by the “Freaky Weekend in the Arctic” tour implemented by Red City LLC.
Relax in the NAO, open your Arctic!
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