Igloo Church Opens in Bavaria

Bavarian villagers have built a church of snow and ice, a century after their forebears did the same to protest the town's lack of a place of worship. The 65-foot long church in the mountain village of Mitterfirmiansreut was built using 49,000 cubic feet of snow, as well as slabs of ice, at a cost of about $130,000, Der Spiegel reports. The church, dubbed "God's igloo," opened two weeks later than planned because of unseasonably warm weather. Prayer services will be held inside—capacity is 200—but Catholic authorities won't allow any masses, weddings, or baptisms in the snow church. (More igloo stories.)