Igloo Church, Inuvik

Our Lady Of Victory Church, Built In 1960 In The Form Of An Igloo, With A White Dome And A Painted Interior Of Inuit Themed Religious Scenes. It Is The Best Known Building In Inuvik, A Planned Northern Town At The End Of The Dempster Highway. Visits Are Usually Possible When The Church Is Open Or By Asking At The Parish. · Inuvik, Northwest Territories

Our Lady of Victory Church, known to everyone as the Igloo Church, stands on Mackenzie Road in Inuvik, a planned town in the Mackenzie Delta at the end of the Dempster Highway. Built in 1960 in the shape of an igloo, it has a white dome and a painted interior of Inuit-themed religious scenes. It is the best-known building in the town and the usual first photograph visitors take. It is an active Catholic parish, not a museum, so services come first and the inside is often locked outside them; visits are usually by arrangement or when the church is open, so confirm before you plan around it. The exterior can be photographed freely. Getting here is the real undertaking: about 740 km of gravel Dempster Highway from the Klondike Highway, or a flight from Yellowknife or Edmonton. It suits travellers already coming north, photographers and anyone curious about northern church history. It is small and quick to see, so treat it as a short stop. Allow 30 to 60 minutes.

Igloo-shaped Catholic church on Mackenzie Road in Inuvik, the end of the Dempster Highway in the Mackenzie Delta, with a painted interior and a nearby community greenhouse, Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada

There are no fixed public opening hours that can be trusted from outside. Our Lady of Victory is a working parish, so the doors are open for services and often locked at other times. Visits to the interior are usually by arrangement with the parish, or when someone is on site, so confirm the current arrangement with the parish office or the Inuvik visitor centre before you rely on seeing the painted interior. Sunday and weekday service times are set by the parish and can change, especially in summer. Do not enter during Mass unless you are attending. The outside can be viewed and photographed at any hour, and in midsummer the light lasts all night.

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