Why you can't die in the city. Longyearbyen: The northernmost city on Earth where it is illegal to die. Itsukushima Island, Japan

Itsukushima - Japan

Japan's Itsukushima is a sacred place, and keeping it clean is paramount. Thus, in an attempt to keep the island clean, the priests persuaded the government to pass a law in which it is forbidden to die on the islands. Since 1878, not only death, but also birth has been prohibited on the islands. Pregnant women and the elderly are allowed to visit the islands if they have a certificate that the former will not give birth during the period of visiting the island, and the latter will not die on the island.

Blood was shed on the island only once, it happened during the battle for Miyajima in 1555, after which the victor ordered to clear the islands of bodies and all the land “defiled” by blood was thrown into the sea.

Longyearbyen - Norway

The Arctic city of Longyearbyen, on the islands of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway, also has a similar ban. Death is forbidden. The city still has a small cemetery, but it stopped accepting new burials more than 70 years ago. The reason for the ban is that the organs of the dead never decompose. It was discovered that the bodies buried in Longyearbyen were, in fact, perfectly preserved on the permafrost. Scientists have even managed to separate tissue from a man who died there in the early 20th century and found intact traces of the influenza virus that killed him in 1917.

And those people who are seriously ill or will die soon are sent by plane or ship to other cities in Norway.

Falciano del Massico - Italy

In Falciano del Massico, a small town in southern Italy, people cannot die, it is not because of the environment or religious beliefs, but simply because there is not a single free place for the dead in the cemeteries. The mayor issued an order earlier this month in which he stated that "residents are prohibited from leaving the earthly life, and leaving for the other world on the territory of the town."

In parallel, the mayor decided to build a new cemetery, but until then, people are ordered to "refrain from death."

Sarpourenx - France

A decree banning people from dying was also issued by the mayor of Sarpourenx, a picturesque village in southwestern France. The decision came after a French court denied permission to expand an existing city cemetery. But Mayor Gerard Lalanna went too far, not only did he forbid death, but, according to his decree, everyone who dares to die will be severely punished.

Although the punishment is not described in this decree ...

In Longyearbyen, Norway, in the province of Svalbard, death is outlawed. This official law came into force in 1950. Nobody has the right to die here. If a person has lived in this city all his life, is terminally ill, bedridden, or has been the victim of an accident with a possible fatal outcome, then the patient is transported by sea or by air to another locality in the country. And if, nevertheless, it so happened that a person died in Longyearbyen, then the body will still be buried elsewhere.

Why was such an unusual law passed? To protect other residents of the city.

It's all about the permafrost

In 1950, scientists discovered that the bodies buried in the city cemetery do not decompose due to permafrost. And this means that the deadly viruses inside the bodies have not died and there is a possibility of re-infection of the living population.

Yes, the described situation resembles the scenario of a disaster movie, but similar events have already occurred in reality. In August 2016, an outbreak of anthrax was recorded in Siberia. 90 people were hospitalized and one died. The disease also affected 2,300 deer.

The last time anthrax was reported was back in 1941. The 2016 outbreak occurred during a heat wave in the region, and experts concluded that the deer (which had previously been infected with the virus and killed by it) began to thaw, and this process triggered the release of the virus into the environment.

Spanish flu samples

It was precisely this development of events that officials of Longyearbyen feared in 1950, and therefore it was forbidden to bury people in the city.

Recently, samples of the Spanish flu were found in the permafrost of Alaska and were preserved in the lungs of people who died of the disease in 1918. Similar specimens were found in Longyearbyen itself in a man who died from an influenza outbreak in 1917.

Although it is unlikely that the bodies seized in Longyearbyen could have triggered an outbreak of the Spanish flu, scientists did take extra precautions. When removing the remains from the graves, they wore special spacesuits and provided the necessary temperature conditions so that the bodies did not begin to thaw before they reached a specialized facility in the United States.

Relevance of the problem

It is still not clear how great the danger of re-infection with bacteria and viruses living in the bodies of the dead is, but in 1950 the city authorities decided to play it safe and outlawed death.

This law is still in force in the city today in order to protect residents from outbreaks of deadly diseases.

Longyearbyen is the northernmost settlement in the world with a population of about two thousand people. It is located on the Svalbard archipelago - in the habitat of polar bears, so literally every local carries a weapon with him. And there are also parking lots for sled dogs and abandoned mines, around which, in fact, this town appeared.

British traveler and journalist Sadie Whitelocks spoke about a summer trip to Longyearbyen, the largest settlement and administrative center of the Norwegian province of Svalbard in the Svalbard archipelago.

“Despite the fact that upon arrival in Longyearbyen it was two in the morning, it was as bright as day, and the temperature was below 10 degrees Celsius,” says the journalist. - I ventured from Oslo to this tiny city of about 2,200 inhabitants. I spent two days there, learning about the history of this place, which used to be a center for coal mining, and the remnants of its past that have been left to rust in the cold climate.”

The city was named after its founder, business engineer John Munro Longyearbyen, who laid a coal mine here in 1906. In 1916 the settlement was sold to a Norwegian company.

During the Second World War, after the occupation of Norway in 1940, the inhabitants of Longyearbyen were evacuated to the UK. The city itself and many of its mines were destroyed in 1943 by shelling from German warships, but they were quickly rebuilt after the war.

There is a special relationship with polar bears here. Since Svalbard is the kingdom of bears, literally all residents carry weapons with them in case of an attack, and every student at the local university learns to shoot in the first days of classes.

Yes, this small settlement has its own university, which makes the capital of Svalbard a unique place: the northernmost university in the world, the northernmost hospital, a library, etc. are located here.

Since the locals use snowmobiles and dog sleds during the winter months, there are even special "parks" for dogs.

“Walking along the main street of the city with souvenir and street shops, I decided to continue walking into the valley, where I saw a glacier in the distance. After I walked past dozens of colored houses in brick and dark green shades (there is a special color consultant in the city to ensure that all buildings are painted in the appropriate shades), the landscape around me became wilder, ”continues the journalist.

On the dark slopes of the hills, the journalist noticed several abandoned coal mines with wooden shacks.

Coal mining in and around the city had almost died out by the early 1990s, and today the output of the only operating mine in the city is used primarily for the needs of the city's power plant.

Today, once a mining village, it has become an important tourist center in Norway, where thousands of tourists come every year to see the magnificent Arctic nature with their own eyes.

Since the middle of the 20th century, the authorities have set a course for the normalization of life in the city and the development of social infrastructure. In the same years, a significant development of tourism and research activities began. The opening of the airport in 1975 was an important event for the life of Longyearbyen, which gradually turned into a tourist destination.

An interesting fact: Longyearbyen has a law that prohibits dying on its territory. If someone becomes seriously ill or there is an incident with a potentially fatal outcome, the victim should be immediately transported to another part of Norway, where he will die. But even if death occurs in the city, the dead are still buried on the mainland. These measures are due to the fact that in the conditions of permafrost, the bodies do not decompose at all after burial, and attract the attention of predators.

Blood was shed on the island only once - this happened during the battle for Miyajima in 1555, after which the victor ordered to clear the islands of bodies, and all the land "defiled" by blood was thrown into the sea.

Longyearbyen (Norway)

In an arctic city on the islands of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway, there is a similar prohibition: death is forbidden. The city still has a small cemetery, but it stopped accepting new burials more than 70 years ago. The reason for the ban is that the organs of the dead never decompose. It was discovered that the bodies buried in Longyearbyen were in fact perfectly preserved in permafrost conditions. Scientists even managed to find traces of the influenza virus in the body tissues of a man who died in 1917.

Those people who are seriously ill or who will soon die are sent by plane or ship to other cities in Norway.

Falciano del Massico (Italy)

AT , a small town in southern Italy, the story of the prohibition against death is a little different. People are forbidden to die here not because of the environment or religious beliefs, but simply because there is not a single empty place for the burial of the dead. The mayor issued an order according to which "local residents, as well as guests of the village, are forbidden to leave the limits of earthly life in order to go to the next world."The mayor is currently planning a new cemetery, but until then people have been ordered to refrain from dying.

Sarpurenks(France)

Decree prohibiting people from dying was issued by the mayor Sarpurenks , a picturesque village in the southwest of France. This decision was made after the court refused to expand the existing city cemetery. Mayor Gerard Lalanna went too far: he not only banned death, but also issued a decree according to which everyone who dares to die will be severely punished. His actions were a symbolic protest against the court's decision. Lalanna himself died 10 months after the decree was passed.

Somewhere you can not walk on the lawns, somewhere - swim. And there are some places where you can not die.

Even in antiquity, in the 5th century BC. e., the world's first ban on death appeared. It was introduced on the island of Delos, which was considered sacred. According to legend, Delos arose as a result of the fact that Poseidon captured a lump of earth from the bottom of the sea with his trident. The island was floating until Apollo fixed it between Mykonos and Rinia. Here, one by one, the temple of Apollo, the sanctuary of Zeus, the cave of Hercules and other revered places were erected, and the oracles declared that death defiles this sacred place. After such a decision was made, all the people buried earlier were transferred to the island of Rinia. And the same attitude developed on Delos towards childbearing: the gods should not have been disturbed by such base events of life, and all pregnant women were also sent to their neighbors.

Bernard Gagnon/Wikipedia

An analogue of this prohibition has been preserved in the modern world: on the Japanese island of Itsukushima, there is a shrine so important for Shintoists that in the past no one except pilgrims was allowed to this land. Today, the population of the island is 2,000 people, but pregnant women, as well as the elderly and sick people, have been transported to other places in a timely manner since 1878 so as not to desecrate the sacred island.

However, most are related to practical issues: in particular, the lack of land for cemeteries. Lanjaron (Spain) faced this problem; Cugno, Le Lavandou and Sarpurance (south of France), Sellia and Falciano del Massico (Italy), and Biritiba Mirim in Brazil. In the last of these cities, the situation is especially hopeless: it is forbidden to dig graves in its vicinity, since the area is surrounded by several rivers that supply drinking water to the neighboring metropolis of São Paulo. Decomposition products may enter groundwater. Residents of these settlements have to take their dead to other cities, paying additional money, or else place urns with ashes in existing crypts.

This practice is used in some Chinese provinces: having assessed the agricultural potential of the land, the authorities decided that there was no point in wasting it on dead bodies. For years, there have been campaigns in Jiangxi and elsewhere to encourage people to choose cremation. The production of coffins here was banned many years ago.

And in Longyearbyen, Norway, the ban on death, sinister in itself, has no less sinister explanation. The northernmost settlement in the world with a population of over a thousand people was founded on the island of Western Svalbard in 1906 for the sake of coal mining. The location was subsequently chosen to create the Doomsday Vault: a store of vital resources in case of a global catastrophe.

The permafrost will allow the seeds to remain intact for decades, but it was this factor that proved decisive for the ban on death: in 1950, it was discovered that the bodies do not decompose, which means that they attract the attention of polar bears and other predators that can potentially spread the infection throughout throughout the territory. Since then, all the elderly and sick people have been transported to Oslo. The city and its strange living conditions