Concrete entrance
Jutting from the mountain.
Michael Major for Crop Trust — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Cierra Martin for Crop Trust — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Michael Major for Crop Trust — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Michael Major for Crop Trust — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Michael Major for Crop Trust — CC BY-SA 2.0
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure facility storing backup copies of the world's crop seeds, dug into a mountain near Longyearbyen in Norway's Svalbard archipelago, about 3.3 km in a straight line west of town, near the airport. It holds duplicates of seeds conserved in gene banks around the world, as a safeguard in case the originals are lost. The Norwegian government paid for its construction in full, and it is run under an agreement between Norway, the Crop Trust and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center; storing seeds there is free for depositors. As of June 2025 the vault held more than 1.3 million samples, representing over 13,000 years of agricultural history. From outside, only a narrow concrete entrance shows, jutting from the mountainside and decorated with an artwork of reflective pieces that glows in the polar night. The vault cannot be entered, so visitors see it from outside at the entrance. The road is short from town; do not wander off it without a guide because of polar bears.
Jutting from the mountain.
Glows at night.
Over the fjord.
Near Longyearbyen Airport, Svalbard
No, it is seen from outside only.
Backup copies of the world's crop seeds.