Highlight of Sitka



The Bishop's House, Sitka

The most significant site of interest in Sitka is without a doubt the Russian Bishop’s House & Museum.  Bishop’s House is the oldest intact Russian building in Sitka, built in 1842 by the Russian-American Company as a residence for the Bishop of the Orthodox Church.  Although the Bering-Chirikov expedition first arrived in Alaska in 1741, it was between 1799 and 1867 that the Russian government through the Russian-American Company maintained colonies in Alaska devoted to the lucrative fur trade.  The Russian Orthodox Church is the most enduring legacy of this chapter in Alaskan history.  The fur trade eventually dwindled and the Company managers returned to Russia but the Orthodox Church continued to thrive in Alaska.  Bishop Innocent Veniaminov was a veteran frontier traveler with previous experience in Sitka and the Aleutian Islands.  He was a skilled craftsman, educator, and had a talent for learning languages.  The Russian Bishop’s House was the center from which he oversaw his far-reaching diocese from Kamchatka, Russian to New Archangel (Sitka), Alaska.  The house continued in the hands of the Orthodox Church after the 1867 transfer of Alaska; by the 1960’s the church was overwhelmed with maintenance needs and the National Park Service purchased the building in 1972 and began a 15-year project of restoration.  

Tightly-fitted Squared-Log Construction

The museum located on the first floor contains a number of items from this inherited history and the construction of the building itself is fascinating to see.  Portions of the walls, ceilings, and floors are left uncovered so that visitors can better understand its construction.  Finnish shipwrights employed by the Russian-American Company were among the craftsmen who built the house.  Tightly-fitted squared-logs were used for framing the house and rooms.  

Cloth tacked to the logs for a Smooth Finish

Locking-scarf joints were used for the walls, a shipwright’s method of joining two timbers to make a longer piece.  Scarf joints remain tight but still allow natural shrinking and swelling of the wood.  Wood filler strips were used at the log joints to create a smooth interior surface for the wall finish.  A cloth was tacked to the logs for a wall finish that could be painted or wallpapered.  This finish method was used for the ceiling as well.  

Ceiling Construction

Ceiling planks were supported by slots in walls and ceiling beams held together with dowels.  Logs were used for the subfloor with planks laid above for the main floor.  The dead air space between the subfloor and the floor planks was filled in with sand or wood chips and shavings for insulation.  

Floor Construction and Insulation

The floor was then painted to give a finished look.  To reduce the flow of cold air from room to room, high door sills were used but of course you had to remember to step over them as well as duck under the lowered doorways.  The first floor of the house served as the church offices; a school for Creole, Aleut, and Tlingit children; and a seminary where Native clergy were trained.  

First Floor Museum, Bishop's House

Today the first floor serves as a museum with historic documents, photos, and artifacts.  

Russian Imperial Marker

One of the most interesting and rarest of Russian artifacts is the one and only marker recovered of 20 known to have been buried.  The inscription on these imperial markers read, ‘Land belonging to Russia’ and were distributed all along the American mainland from Kodiak Island to California.  Archeologists recovered the marker at Redoubt St. Michael (located in Norton Sound near the mouth of the Yukon River) a Russian settlement destroyed by Tlingit Natives in 1802.  

Parlor with painting of Czar Alexander

The upper floor of the Bishop’s House still contains some of the original furnishings, and the Chapel still contains priceless religious icons.  

Bishop Veniaminov's Writing Desk

Original furnishings include the sofa and chairs, some small tables, and Bishop Veniaminov’s writing desk which he built himself and where he wrote and translated religious text.  Hanging above the sofa is a painting of Czar Alexander who emancipated the surfs in 1861.  Several attempts were made on his life and he was finally assassinated in 1881.  

Chapel in Bishop's House

The beautiful Chapel still has original icons and has been visited by past leaders of Russia who wept at the sight of these icons.  

Chapel, Bishop's House

Many of Russia's religious icons were lost during the Russian Revolution.  On the day of our visit to the Bishop’s House, we were invited to sample Russian tea.  Tea was a favorite drink of the Russian’s who traded Alaskan furs in exchange for Chinese tea shipped back to Russia.  

Map of Missionaries, Bishop Veniaminov's Diac

In such remote outposts, trade was necessary in order to have any luxuries, dishes for example were obtained from trading with the English ships.  I think we learned more on our second visit to Sitka than we did the first time in 2011.  History seems to be one of those things that grows on you; a bit here and a piece there, until you finally start to see the bigger picture.