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russian

Snapshots: Alaska's Old Russian Churches

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Snapshots: Alaska's Old Russian Churches

Vitus Bering claimed Alaska for the Russian Empire in 1741 under orders from Tsar Peter the Great. Russia’s hold on Alaska would last until they sold the territory to the United States in 1867 and their primary focus was on the abundance of valuable furs found in Alaskan waters. The most enduring legacy of Russian culture in Alaska is the strong presence maintained by the Russian Orthodox Church in the state. This summer I had the pleasure to visit these four beautiful Russian Orthodox churches, three in the Kenai Peninsula and one in Anchorage. As someone born into and raised in the Russian Orthodox faith, I found it fascinating to visit these churches and I was thrilled (or, perhaps, blessed) to see them all on sunny days. I hope you enjoy my photos.

St. Innocent Russian Orthodox Church in Anchorage (Founded 1967)

Holy Assumption Russian Orthodox Church in Kenai (Built 1894)

St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Nikolaevsk (Built 1983)

Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church in Ninilchik (Built 1901)

Holy Assumption in Kenai

St. Innocent in Anchorage

St. Innocent in Anchorage

Holy Assumption in Kenai

St. Nicholas in Nikolaevsk

Transfiguration of Our Lord in Ninilchik

Transfiguration of Our Lord Cemetery in Ninilchik

Transfiguration of Our Lord Cemetery in Ninilchik

St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Nikolaevsk (Built 1983) - New Church in Background

Out-Building of Holy Assumption in Kenai

The Bell Tower on the New St. Nicholas Church

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Easter on a Different Day - An American Story

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Easter on a Different Day - An American Story

I am a pretty typical American mutt. While all of my ancestry that I’m familiar with comes from somewhere in Europe, there is very little that I can identify with. I knew all four of my grandparents, and all four were pretty typically American, if that can be said of anyone. Even my grandmother on my mother’s side, who was actually born in Poland and immigrated to the U.S. as a child, spoke unaccented English and served me macaroni and cheese and sandwiches on Wonder Bread. It is from her mother though, my great-grandmother on my mother’s side, that I have some understanding of my Ukrainian background. 

My great-grandmother escaped to Poland from the Ukraine, while pregnant with my grandmother, during the Bolshevik Revolution. She left behind a husband and a son, both of whom were killed under Stalin’s regime. When my grandmother was 5, they got on a boat to the new world. They sailed under the Statue of Liberty on their way to Ellis Island...

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