Sitka

About Sitka

Sitka occupies the Pacific side of Baranof Island and was the capital of Russian America until the 1867 purchase — a history visible in the onion-domed St. Michael's Cathedral that still anchors downtown. Because the harbor is shallow, most ships anchor offshore and tender passengers ashore, so plan for a bit of extra logistics time. The Sitka National Historical Park preserves a Tlingit totem-pole trail along the battle site where the Tlingit resisted Russian expansion, and the Alaska Raptor Center next door rehabilitates injured bald eagles in flight-training enclosures passengers can walk among. Wildlife tours out to the outer coast regularly turn up sea otters, humpback whales, and brown bears on adjacent Kruzof Island.

• Sitka is the largest city by total area in the United States, covering 4,811 square miles (including water) — nearly twice the size of Delaware.
• Russia governed Sitka from 1799 to 1867; it was the capital of Russian America, and the formal transfer of Alaska to the United States took place here on October 18, 1867 (now celebrated as Alaska Day).
• The city sits on the west side of Baranof Island in the Alexander Archipelago, with views of the dormant volcano Mount Edgecumbe rising from Kruzof Island across the water.
• Sitka National Historical Park — Alaska's oldest federally designated park — preserves the 1804 battlefield where Tlingit Kiks.ádi Clan warriors fought Russian forces, along with a famous collection of totem poles.
• The surrounding waters are prime habitat for humpback whales, sea otters, Steller sea lions, and hundreds of seabird species, making Sitka a top destination for wildlife watching.