St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral

Saint Michael's Cathedral, a National Historic Landmark in downtown Sitka, is the most prominent symbol of the Russian colonial presence in Alaska and was the main edifice of a chain of historic Russian missions that eventually extended south to Fort Ross, California. Its green domes, historic icons, tower bells, and golden Orthodox crosses remain visible and functioning, and today its active parish is composed principally of Native Alaskans, many descended from the same Tlingit families who lived there at the time of Russian colonization. As part of the Russian Orthodox Church's Pacific missionary movement to Siberia and America in the late 18th and early 19th century, the Siberian-born Father Veniaminov came to Alaska with his wife and family, served for more than ten years at Unalaska in the Aleutian Islands, and in 1834 was sent to Sitka as bishop. Known for his warm relationship with Native Alaskan peoples and his tolerant appreciation of their cultures, he translated the Gospels and other church materials into Native Alaskan languages for which he created written forms. The original Saint Michael's Cathedral was completed in 1848 in Nova Arkhangelsk, now Sitka; Veniaminov designed it and oversaw its construction, with financial support from the Russian-America Company's headquarters in Siberia. Many construction materials and most icons and liturgical items came from Russia by land and sea, the original tower clock was built by Veniaminov himself, and the original Russian-style cathedral bells were forged in a Sitka foundry. In the early morning of January 2, 1966, the cathedral burned to the ground in a fire that destroyed 17 downtown buildings, but parishioners and townspeople saved almost everything inside by forming a human chain to pass out ancient liturgical treasures. The great metal bells and tower clock melted, yet the bell fragments were later recast into the present bells and the clock was replaced. Services were held atop the cathedral's ashes a few days later, reconstruction began, and by 1976 the cathedral had been rebuilt using architectural drawings made in 1961 by the Historic American Buildings Survey, with the rescued icons and liturgical items returned to their places. In 1977, Veniaminov, the first Russian bishop of North America, was canonized as Saint Innocent Veniaminov, and the Russian Cemetery preserves the memorial grave of Saint Jakov Netsvetov, his contemporary and the first Native Alaskan priest ordained in Russia to return and serve the church in Alaska.

Sitka, Alaska · United States