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After weeks of preparation, the people of Mitterfirmiansreut, Germany, opened a small Catholic church built entirely of snow and ice, ABC News reported.

The snow church is part of a long tradition in Mitterfirmiansreut dating back more than 100 years. The ritual harks back to when town authorities denied a formal request from residents to open their own traditional house of worship. So the petitioners decided instead to erect a church out of nothing but snow and ice.

The ice sculpture reportedly cost more than US$200,000 to create and was delayed for several weeks by warm weather. The structure -- nicknamed "God's Igloo" -- was made with 49,000 cubic feet of snow. It's roughly 65 feet in length, and even has a tower.

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德国开放冰雪教堂

       经过数周准备，一座完全由冰雪建造的小天主教堂终于在德国密特福绵丝路特镇开放了。

       据美国广播公司新闻网报道，建造冰雪教堂是该镇的一大传统，已经延续了100多年。当年，该镇的统治者拒绝了人们开放传统教堂的请求，请愿者就决定只用冰和雪来建教堂。

       据悉，眼下这座被称为“上帝的雪屋”的冰雪教堂大概花费了20多万美元，工期还因为暖和的天气拖延了好几周。它总共由 4.9万立方英尺的雪建成，长约65英尺，上面还有个小塔。

(China.org.cn January 5, 2012)