
St. Michael's Cathedral (1848) was the first Russian Orthodox cathedral in North America; after the 1966 fire it was rebuilt to its original appearance, with the icons the town carried out of the flames.
The Tlingit have lived on this coast — Sheet'ká — for more than ten thousand years, and the Sheet'ká Kwáan remain a thriving culture in Sitka today.
Why People Visit Sitka Alaska
Sitka offers world-historical depth in a working Alaska fishing town — Tlingit heritage, Russian Imperial architecture, the birthplace of Alaska Day, old-growth coastal rainforest, totem poles, and a working harbor — all within a walkable downtown along the outer Pacific. Visitors combine cathedral and museum stops with rainforest trails, whale-watching, raptor rehabilitation tours, and the simple pleasure of standing on the hill where the flags changed in 1867. It is photogenic, walkable, and unlike any other town on the Alaska coast.