St. Michael's Cathedral

St. Michael’s Cathedral, built in 1848, is the main attraction of the city of Sitka. This Orthodox church is a unique monument to the Russian presence in Alaska.

The building of the temple is built in the form of a Greek cross, the walls are painted in gray-blue with a white rope, and the roof is lined with ruberoid tiles. The central green dome is located on an octagonal drum, on each side of which there are windows. The spacious bell tower, which is 12 meters high, is topped with a spire-shaped dome and has eight arched openings with a bell in each. It has a round clock with a Roman dial.

In the church hall there are four columns supporting the dome. The bishops’ pulpit with an eagle is located in the center of the temple, on both sides of it there are iconostases with the faces of St. Michael, the Kazan Mother of God and St. Innocent of Moscow. Paintings with scenes from the Old and New Testament adorn the walls of the church. St. Michael’s Cathedral is of great historical value, and in 1962 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States.