Category:Holy Assumption Russian Orthodox Church, Chapel of St. Nicholas (Kenai, Alaska)

English: Unusual among Alaska Russian Orthodox chapels, the Chapel of St. Nicholas is larger and more elaborate than most shrines, with its tall pyramidal roof and cross gable, yet smaller and plainer than most chapels, with its unfinished log interior. The chapel was constructed in 1906 to mark the grave of Abbot Nicholas, Kenai's first resident priest. / Located on the bluff overlooking the confluence of the Kenai River and the Cook Inlet, the Chapel of St. Nicholas was built on the site of the first Kenai church and covers the graves of Iguman (or, Abbot) Nikolai, the first missionary in the Kenai area, his assistant and reader Makarii Ivanov and another monk whose name is not recorded. Consecrated on December 6, 1906, the chapel was never completed and has only been used for memorial services and, weather permitting, a molbeiben, or thanksgiving service, on December 19, St. Nicholas Day. Built of hand-hewn logs, its weather grey appearance contrasts dramatically with the yellows, blues and whites of the brightly painted cupola, elongated onion dome and traditional three-bar cross -- HABS AK,9-KEN,1-B.