A visual tour through the Russian Bishop's House with narration by National Park Service Interpretive Ranger Peter Gorman.
The Russian Bishop's House, completed in 1842, is one of the few surviving examples of Russian colonial architecture in North America. Sitka (known as New Archangel at the time) was the Russian colonial capital, and the Bishop's House was the center of Russian Orthodox church authority. The Church closed the Bishop's House in 1969; it was in danger of collapse. In 1973, the National Park Service obtained the property and in 1988 completed restoration of the building to its 1853 appearance. The house offers visitors a chance to step back into history and feel what it was like to live in Sitka during the Russian-American period.
For more information on the Russian Bishop's House, refer to the Alaska Natural History Association's 1992 publication: "The Russian Bishop's House, Sitka, Alaska: Legacy of An Empire, 1842."