Skoltebyen

Skoltebyen in Neiden is the most important surviving cultural heritage site for the Skolt Sami in Norway. Neiden served as a Skolt Sami summer settlement for centuries, but when the national border with Russia was drawn in 1826 the settlement was cut off from its traditional winter grounds, forcing the community to adapt to year-round habitation. The Ministry of the Environment granted Skoltebyen cultural heritage protection in 2000, preserving the remains of sixteen traditional turf huts (gammer), a Russian Orthodox graveyard, the ruins of a smoke sauna and a tiny Russian Orthodox chapel that may date to the 17th century. In 2019 it was selected as one of 46 nationally significant agricultural heritage sites. Today only one house in the village remains inhabited. The site sits along the Neidenelva river near the Finnish and Russian borders, a quiet place where three cultures and languages have overlapped for centuries.