{"id":559286,"date":"2026-02-11T17:36:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T15:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/?p=559286"},"modified":"2026-02-11T17:36:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T15:36:58","slug":"orthodox-icons-bulgaria-antarctic-research-base","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/orthodox-icons-bulgaria-antarctic-research-base\/","title":{"rendered":"Icons donated by Ecumenical and Bulgarian patriarchs arrive at Bulgaria\u2019s Antarctic research base"},"content":{"rendered":"

An icon of Saint Demetrius the Myrrh-gusher, donated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, and an icon of the Mother of God with the Child, donated by Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria, were placed on Tuesday in the new laboratory of Bulgaria\u2019s \u201cSt. Clement of Ohrid\u201d research base on Livingston Island, in Antarctica.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The icon of Saint Demetrius was offered by the Ecumenical Patriarch<\/a> during a visit by Bulgarian scientists to Constantinople in October 2025.<\/p>\n

On that occasion, the Patriarch blessed Bulgaria\u2019s new Antarctic expedition and personally presented the icon<\/a> to the research team.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Prof. Hristo Pimpirev, head of the Bulgarian Antarctic expedition (left), holds the icon donated by the Ecumenical Patriarch for the Bulgarian research base on Livingston Island. Photo source: Orthodox Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe donated the icon himself, so that it may protect the Bulgarian base,\u201d said Professor Hristo Pimpirev, head of Bulgaria\u2019s 34th Antarctic expedition.<\/p>\n

The icon of the Mother of God with the Child was blessed and donated by the Patriarch of Bulgaria during a special ceremony<\/a> held early last year at St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pray that the Lord will help you and support you. Conditions there are difficult, and it is not easy to work and live,\u201d the Bulgarian Patriarch told the researchers.<\/p>\n

The icons arrived in Antarctica at the end of last year aboard the Bulgarian research vessel Sts. Cyril and Methodius, which departed from Varna in November.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The icon of the Mother of God was blessed by Patriarch Daniil early last year and given to scientists preparing for the 34th Bulgarian expedition to Antarctica. Photo: Patriarchate of Bulgaria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

About the island and the research base<\/h2>\n

The new laboratory building<\/a> at the Bulgarian research base was inaugurated last year and is already operational. It can accommodate 14 people and includes biology and geology laboratories as well as a shared working area.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1988, the Bulgarian Antarctic base also includes the chapel of St. John of Rila \u2014 the first place of worship built in Antarctica and the southernmost Christian place of worship in the world.<\/p>\n

Livingston Island, the second-largest of the South Shetland Islands, is located about 3,000 kilometres from the South Pole.<\/p>\n

Photo: Facebook \/ Christo Pimpirev<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An icon of Saint Demetrius the Myrrh-gusher, donated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, and an icon of the Mother of God with the Child, donated by Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria, were placed on Tuesday in the new laboratory of Bulgaria\u2019s \u201cSt. Clement of Ohrid\u201d research base on Livingston Island, in Antarctica. The icon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":559247,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[36820,36822,2468,36823,36821],"class_list":["post-559286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-bulgaria-antarctic-base","tag-bulgarian-patriarch-daniil","tag-ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomew","tag-livingston-island-research-station","tag-orthodox-icons-antarctica"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basilica.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}