Religion in Antarctica

Antarctica has several religious buildings used for worship services:

• Chapel of the Snows, Antarctica, a non-denominational Christian chapel at McMurdo Station, Ross Island;
• Trinity Church, Antarctica, a Russian Orthodox church at Bellingshausen Station, South Shetland Islands;
• Chapel of Santisima Virgen de Lujan, Antarctica, a Catholic chapel at Marambio Base, Seymour Island;
• San Francisco de Asis Chapel, a Catholic chapel at Esperanza Base, Antarctic Peninsula;
• St. Ivan Rilski Chapel, a Bulgarian Orthodox chapel at St. Kliment Ohridski Base, South Shetland Islands;
• Santa Maria Reina de la Paz Church, a Catholic church at the Villa Las Estrellas, South Shetland Islands;
• A permanent Catholic chapel made entirely of ice at Belgrano II Base, Coats Land.^[1]

The Worldwide Antarctic Program proposes building a Catholic chapel at Mario Zucchelli Station, Terra Nova Bay, Antarctica; while the first Catholic chapel (named after Saint Francis of Assisi) was built in 1976 at the Argentine Esperanza Base.^[2] The southernmost Catholic chapel lies at the Argentine Belgrano II Base.^[3]

There are also churches on some of the Antarctic islands situated north of 60° south latitude (and thus not part of the Antarctic Treaty System), including Grytviken on South Georgia (since 1913), and Port-aux-Français on the main island of Kerguelen.

Notes and references