閱讀難度：

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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德國開放冰雪教堂

       經(jīng)過數(shù)周準(zhǔn)備，一座完全由冰雪建造的小天主教堂終于在德國密特福綿絲路特鎮(zhèn)開放了。

       據(jù)美國廣播公司新聞網(wǎng)報道，建造冰雪教堂是該鎮(zhèn)的一大傳統(tǒng)，已經(jīng)延續(xù)了100多年。當(dāng)年，該鎮(zhèn)的統(tǒng)治者拒絕了人們開放傳統(tǒng)教堂的請求，請愿者就決定只用冰和雪來建教堂。

       據(jù)悉，眼下這座被稱為“上帝的雪屋”的冰雪教堂大概花費了20多萬美元，工期還因為暖和的天氣拖延了好幾周。它總共由 4.9萬立方英尺的雪建成，長約65英尺，上面還有個小塔。

(China.org.cn January 5, 2012)