How Orthodoxy First Took Root in Alaska

The history of Orthodox Alaska – once called “Russian America” – began with a Danish explorer. Vitus Bering was an accomplished seaman and voyager, whose early life’s adventures had taken him across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean, and as far east as the Dutch East Indies. In 1704, he entered the nascent Russian navy under Tsar Peter I. He rose through the ranks and served admirably during the Great Northern War against Sweden.

In 1724, Bering was tasked with heading the Kamchatka Expedition and mapping the Russian pacific coast. An additional goal was to determine whether a land bridge existed between Asia and North America. The mission was largely a success, though no land bridge was discovered. A second expedition departed in 1733, and on July 16, 1741 sighted the North American mainland. The peak they saw was the future Mount St. Elias, named for the Holy Hierarch Elijah I, Patriarch of Jerusalem. Bering would die on the return voyage and be buried on an island near Kamchatka that – along with the strait dividing Siberia from Alaska – today bears his name.