Tuesday 12 July 2011

Arctic churches: simple and colourful

Arctic churches are usually a landmark, sometimes the best building around; most look like this: wooden made, a rectangular body , a single bell tower on the front face, walls coloured red, blue, brown, gray - in general an attractive and rather joyful building, not a dark heavy one.

Inside, a single nave, columns are rare, no chapels, transept in a few, and a modest altar. Now and then, a side chapel, a vestibule or covered entrance, some woodwork.

Some examples, a mini-album:

1. Grise fiord, Arctic Archipelago, Canada


2. Uelen, Russia, Northeast Siberia.



3. Vardø, Norway


4. Uummannaq, Greenland

One of few stone churches in the Arctic !


5. Tuktoyaktuk, Canada, Northwest Territories


That's a church! Even has a cross plant and a roof skylight.


6. Ittileq, Greenland


7. Unalaska, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Topped with russian orthodox onion-shaped domes:

8. Arctic Bay, Baffin Island, Canada


9. Upernavik, Greenland

By now, you may have noticed: most greenlandic churches are vivid red.


10. Tasiilaq, Greenland

This church is now Ammassalik Museum

Church bench decoration, inuit theme

11. Mo-i-rana, Norway


12. Longyearbyen , Svalbard Island



13. Sisimiut, Greenland

Sisimiut is well known for its two colonial - era churches: the red one...
... and the blue one:

14 . Kimmirut, Arctic Archipelago, Canada

An anglican church built in 1909.


15. Resolute, Arctic Archipelago, Canada


16. Qaqortoq, Greenland


17. Nuuk, Greenland capital's old church


18. A jewel: Ilulissat, Greenland



For a medieval stone church in arctic latitudes, see

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