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New Hope for Alaska's Historic Churches |
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Wind, weather, and time are slowly eroding many of Alaska’s
most distinctive landmarks - Orthodox
Churches. These churches, from Karluk to
Chuathbaluk, from Seldovia to Juneau, date from
the 19th century. Hope for their rehabilitation comes from ROSSIA,
which stands for Russian Orthodox Sacred Sites
in Alaska. ROSSIA Inc. is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization. Started in 2002
by its Board of Directors brings together Native
corporation leaders, Orthodox
clergy, government officials, architects, historians,
and preservationists. ROSSIA has its work cut out for it. Today there are 33 Orthodox Churches on the National Register of Historic Places. The ROSSIA Board has identified ten of these churches as requiring urgent restoration. Three of these are the focus of the current fund-raising effort. All ten are described in the materials in this packet. Our Alaskan communities face tough choices, because it is often more
costly to restore a historic building than
to build a newer, simpler, often less elegant,
house of worship. ROSSIA works closely
with local communities to make it possible
for them to retain their original structure,
if they desire. Individuals, Native corporations,
foundations, are being approached for assistance
in what promises to be a multi-million dollar
campaign. How did this unique inheritance come to be? Russia laid claim to Alaska in 1741, following Vitus Bering’s pioneer voyage across the Pacific from Siberia. Hundreds of Russian fur-seekers followed. The first Orthodox house of worship in America was a chapel built by laymen on Umnak Island in the Aleutians in the 1760’s. The Orthodox mission established a formal presence in North America, at Kodiak, in 1794 with the arrival of ten monks including North America’s first Orthodox Saint, the humble monk Herman. Another great cleric, Bishop (also Saint) Innocent (Veniaminov) designed and built the first Russian Orthodox cathedral in North America, St. Michael’s in Sitka, between 1844 and 1848. Today, there are more than 90 active Russian Orthodox Churches in the state of Alaska, of which 7 are National Historic Landmarks.
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