Holy Trinity Church

Most research stations in Antarctica are equipped with a room that doubles for religious services. Holy Trinity Church, however, was built to accommodate those searching for a more traditional engagement with a higher power.

The small Russian Orthodox house of worship was constructed out of cedar, larch, and pine, handcrafted by carpenters in Siberia, before being dismantled and transported more than 10,000 miles to the bottom of the world. Then, upon hitting the icy shores, it took a swift two months to reconstruct.

The southernmost continent hosts a grand total of eight churches, but Holy Trinity is the only one that operates year-round, with a guaranteed priest on location. There are services every Saturday and Sunday (delivered in Spanish and Russian), typically to an audience of five or six parishioners.

The church performed its first wedding ceremony in 2007, after two decades of regular service. The nuptials celebrated a union between a Russian and a Chilean researcher. Rumor has it that hand warmers were a top item on their registry.

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