Feb. 10 (UPI) — A Siberian man solved his remote village’s church shortage by building a 10-foot-tall Orthodox house of worship out of snow.
Former construction worker Aleksandr Bityokhin, 41, said it took him about 45 days to carve the small church out of snow so that Orthodox residents of his village, Sosnovka, would have somewhere to worship without traveling dozens of miles to the nearest facility.
“As soon as the first snow fell in Sosnovka, I prayed and got down to work,” Bityokhin told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. “First I created a draft of the chapel. I decided it would have 12 arches, in honor of the 12 apostles. Then I began to press the snow, step by step, laying the foundation and the walls of the church.”
Locals have filled the church with religious items.
“He followed the voice of his heart,” Bityokhin’s mother, Tatiana told Ruptly. “He’s a passionate believer and wants to pray in his church, but since we have no means to regularly go to town or nearby villages, he has decided to build a church here.”
