Russian-American Architecture, Unalaska, Aleutian Islands, AK

Significance: From the time the Russians discovered Alaska in 1741 until they sold it to the United States in 1867, they established numerous settlements, mostly along the coast in Alaska, plus one at Fort Ross in California. In Alaska, only three buildings are known to survive the period of Russian occupancy, all of them log construction: the Russian-American Company Magazin in Kodiak, (HABS No. AK-2) the Russian Bishop's House in Sitka (HABS No. AK-64), and Building No. 29 in Sitka (HABS No. AK-99). Russian architecture has also survived in Alaska through the Russian Orthodox churches that continue to be built into the present. Once converted by the Russians, the Natives adopted Russian Orthodoxy as their own. Today there are about 20,000 members of over 80 churches statewide. The forms of the churches vary, ranging from an octagonal church in Juneau to a cruciform-plan, three-altar one in Unalaska, yet they share basic elements of sanctuary, iconstas, nave, and vestibule, often expressed on the exterior and embellished with belltowers, onion domes, three-bar crosses, and splashes of color. Today's churches are often the third or fourth one on the same site, sharing the same fenced churchyard, set slightly apart from the village, and serving as a focal point both visually and spiritually. Seven of these churches have been granted National Historic Landmark status, while an additional 30 have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Some of them are located in villages that did not exist during the Russian period, but represent the spread and persistence of an adopted religion, and an adopted architectural tradition.
Survey number: HABS AK-187