There are trails for skiers and snowboarders right in the city. On Semyonovsky Lake in winter skiing, and in summer – on boats and catamarans. An amusement park with the highest Ferris wheel in the Arctic Circle is open all year round. Next to the aquarium, which has no analogues in the world: only here the trained Arctic seals give an idea.
Even the monuments here are homely: you sit on a bench – and next to it is a bronze cat Semyon with a knapsack on his shoulders. So the Murmansk residents decided to perpetuate the Siamese cat, which returned to its owners after 6 years, having traveled more than 2000 km. Spectacular art installations sparkle everywhere.
In winter, the sky over the city shimmers with fantastic northern lights. And sometimes not one, but two or three suns rise over Murmansk at once. This illusion is created by the refraction of light in the sparkling ice crystals.
But it is worth going down to the shore of the bay – and you can immediately see the second, non-resort side of Murmansk life. The berths are busy all day long. In the commercial port, cranes rumble and the engines of large-capacity ships hum: the port's cargo turnover exceeds 60 million tons per year. In the fishing port, the ships of the Murmansk trawl Fleet, the largest in the Russian fishing industry, are unloaded. The port of Murmansk is the headquarters of the Northern Sea Route and the Maritime Transport Authority of the Russian Arctic. And with the growing importance of the Northern Sea Route, the load on the port of Murmansk also increases.
The benefits of building a port city in the ice-free Kola Bay were first seriously considered in the XIX century, but the port was founded only in 1912. Four years later, on October 4, 1916, the foundation stone of the church was laid in honor of the patron saint of seafarers, Nicholas of Myra. This day is considered the birthday of Murmansk. It became the last city founded in the Russian Empire, and was named after the reigning dynasty – Romanov-on-Murman. And six months later, after the February Revolution, it received its current name.
Murmansk remained a city of wooden shacks and barracks for a long time, and the number of inhabitants in it did not exceed three thousand people. It began to grow rapidly in the 1930s, when the Soviet state needed a base for the creation and maintenance of the Northern Fleet. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the city's population had grown to 120 thousand. During the war years, Murmansk became of strategic importance, as it was used for the supply of lend-lease goods from the allied countries.
Hitler issued a directive to seize the northern port at any cost. Two attempts were made to take it by storm, but both attacks failed. Then the city began to be systematically destroyed from the air. During the war, about 185 thousand bombs were dropped on Murmansk, and three-quarters of the city's buildings were destroyed. Only one Soviet city – Stalingrad-suffered more from bomb attacks than Murmansk.
For valiant resistance to the invaders, Murmansk was awarded the title of "Hero City". In memory of the fallen defenders of the Arctic, a stone figure of a soldier, whom the locals affectionately call Alyosha, is installed on the Green Cape Hill. It rises above the bay at 173 m and is second in height only to the statue "Motherland" in Volgograd. At the foot of the memorial, the Eternal Flame never goes out. And from the observation deck offers an impressive panorama of the entire city and port.
In memory of the sailors who died in peacetime, another majestic memorial complex was built in the city, rising in a cascade up the slopes of the hill. At its foot is a ship's anchor with a capsule filled with water from the Barents Sea, and a fragment of the wheelhouse of the nuclear submarine Kursk, which sank in 2000. A hexagonal lighthouse is erected above, and the Orthodox Church of the Savior on the Waters, built in the Old Russian style, completes the composition.
Many city museums are also dedicated to the history of Arctic navigation. The most impressive is the world's first nuclear – powered icebreaker, the Lenin. It was built in 1959, worked for 30 years and in 1989 stood on the eternal parking lot in Murmansk. Today, guests of the city can take the wheel in the wheelhouse, visit the captain's cabin and even hear the sound of the turbines of a nuclear reactor.
The Museum of the History of the Murmansk Shipping Company has collected instruments and inventory from decommissioned ships. Moreover, they can not only be considered, but also try to use them for their intended purpose. The Naval Museum of the Northern Fleet presents a remarkable collection of flags, uniforms of military sailors, weapons and equipment from warships and submarines. There are also exact copies of ships – both modern and past years. And if you cross the bay on the Kola Bridge, the longest in the Arctic Circle, about 2.5 km long, you can visit the Air Defense Museum in the village of Abram-Mys. There are real planes and rocket launchers in the open air.
The best way to appreciate the beauty of the polar nature is to go swimming along the shores of the Kola Bay. And, of course, at least for a day to stay in the village of Teriberka, which became famous after the release of Leviathan by Andrey Zvyagintsev. Here you can stay alone with the elements of the ocean on the beach, where the pebbles are the size of a dinosaur egg, visit the cemetery of the lost ships, see the Arctic waterfall, ride on a reindeer sled. And, of course, try the freshly caught seafood.
Murmansk itself is famous for its abundance of fresh sea delicacies. Cafes and restaurants offer a huge selection of dishes from cod, halibut, salmon, mussels, scallops. Dried ruff, which is harvested directly on fishing vessels, is especially appreciated. And the main pride of the local cuisine is a giant king crab with a claw span of up to one and a half meters. This type of crab was imported from Kamchatka during the Soviet era, and it has taken root so well that crab safari with mandatory tasting of the prey is popular among tourists.
Murmansk is known not only for its abundance of seafood. Many rare minerals are mined on the Kola Peninsula. And local craftsmen make original jewelry with semiprecious stones in silver, amulet pendants, figurines, caskets or candlesticks. They will be a great souvenir of a friendly city, where they do not know how to profit from tourists, but they know how to adequately receive the most demanding guests.
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