Father Pitt

Why should the beautiful die?


Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church, Carnegie

Tower and Dome of Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church

An Orthodox church founded by members of Sts. Peter & Paul next door who fell on the Orthodox side rather than the Byzantine Catholic side—though Sts. Peter & Paul would swing Orthodox years later. The blue domes, next to the gold domes of Sts. Peter & Paul, are one of the most striking features of the view of Carnegie from the Parkway.

Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church

We believe that the architect was Daniel A. Crone, notable for the Kaiser Torah synagogue and the old Tree of Life, later the Public Theater, demolished a few years ago. In August of 1919, he was taking bids “for a Greek Catholic Church for St. Mary’s Greek Catholic Church, Carnegie, Pennsylvania.”1 Russian Orthodox churches were often described as “Greek Catholic” in those days, and this one is dedicated to the Intercession of the Holy Virgin and built in 1920, so the attribution is very likely.

Front of the church
Domes of Holy Virgin Church
Olympus E-20N.

We also have pictures of Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Church in the winter, when the leaves are off the trees.


  1. Pittsburgh Post, August 19, 1919, p. 16, with thanks to David Schwing. ↩︎
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