Religion in Antarctica

A chapel of 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.

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. The southernmost Catholic chapel lies at the Argentine Belgrano II Base.

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.