Trinity Church (Antarctica)
The Trinity Church ( Russian Церковь Святой Троицы ) is a small Russian Orthodox church on King George Island , near the Russian Bellingshausen station in Antarctica . It is the first Orthodox church in Antarctica and thus the southernmost Orthodox church in the world.
history
Unlike other Christian faiths, there was no Russian Orthodox Church in Antarctica before the Trinity Church was built. At the suggestion of Patriarch Alexius II , who especially launched the initiative “A Temple for the Antarctic” ( Russian Храм - Антарктиде ), the first considerations for a church were given in 2002. The entire construction was financed with donations and realized by the architect Pjotr Anisiforow from Barnaul , who prevailed with his concept in a competition. The church was completely built in Russia and only dismantled a year after completion and brought from Kaliningrad with the ship Akademik Sergey Vavilov to the Antarctic and reassembled there. The polar explorers at the nearby station and some priests helped set it up. On February 15, 2004, the abbot of the Trinity Monastery of Sergiev Posad and Sergiev Posad Feognost, Bishop of Sergiev Posad , consecrated the church in a solemn ceremony . The church is manned by a priest all year round, and masses and even church weddings take place regularly . With the construction of the house of God, the Orthodox Church wanted to show that it also cares for its followers in the Antarctic.
construction
Coordinates: 62 ° 11 ′ 47 " S , 58 ° 57 ′ 33" W
Construction began in early 2003 in the Altai Mountains. The church was made entirely of stone pine and larch wood in Gorno-Altaisk ( Siberia ) by Altai master craftsmen. The church was completed in June 2003. It is 15 m high and was built in the traditional Russian style with an onion dome . The paintings inside the building were made by artists from Palech . On steel and other metals were omitted because of adverse conditions. The construction site in Antarctica was chosen so that the church is the first object that tourists and newcomers who set off from Tierra del Fuego for Antarctica can see already 30 km from the coast.
Web links
- Worldwide Antarctic Program Church in Antarctica (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ pravda.ru: First Orthodox church in Antarctica ( Memento of October 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on July 28, 2009
- ↑ The St. John of Rila Chapel near the Bulgarian St. Kliment Ohridski Base is an Orthodox chapel and is located more south than the Trinity Church, but is not a church according to canon law (see chapel ).
- ↑ mdz-moskau.eu: At the South Pole God lives Russian-Orthodox , accessed on July 28, 2009
- ^ Bbc.co.uk: Flat pack church for Russian workers , accessed July 28, 2009