Source: Aleteia Patriarch Kirill walked among the penguins and visited the only permanent church in the South Pole by Zoe Romanowsky After their historic meeting in Havana, Cuba on February 12, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill flew to Antarctica where he made a point to stroll among the penguins on Ardley island, learning about them and their behaviors. In addition to meeting with scientists at the Bellingshausen polar station, one of the patriarch’s main reasons to be in the cold and sparsely populated South Pole was to visit the only permanent place of worship there — Holy Trinity. The tiny Russian Orthodox church is made…
Browsing: Antarctica
Source: OCP Media Network Foma – February 16, 2016 Famous actor Tom Hanks visited the Orthodox church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Antarctica at the Russian polar station “Bellingshausen” on Waterloo Island, Deacon Maxim Gerb, a cleric of the church in Antarctica, told the journal Foma. “Many interesting people visit our church, including Tom Hanks who was recently sailing past our island on a yacht. He is a very open and friendly person. After he lit some candles I suggested to him to climb up to the bell tower, so I could attest that Forrest Gump was in Antarctica and can now…
Source: Slate By Atlas Obscura From the scorching deserts of Sinai to the frozen tundras of Siberia, Orthodox Christianity has a history of building its churches and monasteries in inhospitable places. But only a few can rival Trinity Church on King George Island. The southernmost Orthodox church in the world, Trinity was built near Bellingshausen Station, Russia’s permanent outpost in Antarctica. In the mid-1990s Patriarch Alexius II of Moscow gave his blessing for this audacious project. The church was constructed in Russia and transported by a supply ship to its present location. One or two monks from Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra — considered…