St. Michael’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral sits in the middle of the main street in Sitka, Alaska and is still a worshiping community 150 years or so after its original founding. Between 1840 and 1872, Sitka was the seat of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America and St. Michael’s was the first Russian Orthodox cathedral on the continent.
The original cathedral was built between 1844 and 1848 but was destroyed by fire in 1966. It was rebuilt from the original blueprints and reconsecrated in 1977 having been filled with many of its original treasures rescued from the burning building by townspeople 11 years earlier.
For the technically inclined...