Sitka
The old capital of Russian Alaska, under a dormant volcano on the open Pacific, on a live webcam.
About this view
Sitka is the only community on Alaska's Inside Passage that faces the open Pacific rather than sheltered channels, and it is watched over by Mount Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano so symmetrical that comparisons to Mount Fuji are unavoidable. About 8,500 people live here.
This was the capital of Russian America from 1808, when it was called New Archangel, and Castle Hill above the harbour is the exact ground where Alaska was transferred from Russia to the United States in 1867. The onion domes of St Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral still sit in the middle of town, and Tlingit culture long predates and outlasts all of it.
This live webcam runs 24/7 on Alaska time, UTC−9. Summer gives nearly endless evening light and cruise traffic in the sound; winter brings storms straight off the Pacific and snow down to the waterline.
