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Solitude
’We wanted to build a sturdy house to protect us from the cold and from wild animals. There were no trees growing there, so we were happy with that mountain of driftwood. There were whole trees, roots and all, which had drifted here from Tartary or Muscovy.’
11 September 1596, Gerrit de Veer
The Barents Region, the High North of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia is known as the last remaining wilderness in Europe. The region is named after the 16th century Dutch polar explorer Willem Barentsz. On his way to find the Northeast Passage to China, his ship got trapped in the ice and Barents and his crew had to spent the winter of 1598 on Novaya Zemlya. Barentsz did not survive, but his crew members managed to reach the Kola Peninsula, in two small open boats, where they were rescued by Russian sailors.
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