Sitka’s Russian background guards the hill north of the Alaska Pioneers Home. The blockhouse is a replica of what the Russians used to protect their stockade from the Indian village.
Across Marine St, at the top of Princess St, is Princess Maksoutoff’s Grave , marking the spot where the wife of Alaska’s last Russian governor is buried. A strategically placed chain-link fence and a bright and shiny sign proclaims this tiny three-grave site as the Lutheran Cemetery.
Cynics might postulate that the princess probably lost her status as a bona fide Lutheran when she married the Russian Orthodox governor, but now that she’s a bona fide tourist attraction the Lutherans want her back. More old headstones and Russian Orthodox crosses can be found in the overgrown and quintessentially creepy Russian Cemetery (located at the north end of Observatory St, or just squeak through the gap in the chain-link fence behind the princess’ grave), where the drippy verdure seems poised to swallow up the decaying graves.
