St. George's Russian/Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Breton Street

St. George's Russian/Ukrainian Orthodox Church

St. George's Church building had a number of congregations, but its religious function ceased some time ago. Situated on the top of Breton Street hill, it is a small but distinctive wood frame structure, with a rounded end wall providing the altar space in traditionally shaped Eastern Orthodox churches. It is now the Whitney Pier Senior Citizens' Club. It is still known in Whitney Pier as the "round church" or the "Russian church." The "Russian" church began in 1916, when Alexander Nemolovsky, Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church in Canada, visited Nova Scotia. He observed that there were some 500 Russian people living in Sydney. As a result of his trip, Reverend John Tirtichny was sent to Sydney to establish a Russian Orthodox Church in Whitney Pier. St. George's Russian Ukrainian Orthodox Church was built at a cost of $5000.

In 1923, after only seven years in operation, St. George's Church ceased to function, a delayed result of the Russian Revolution. Years later, in 1936, a set of complicated religious, political and financial problems within the Canadian Ukrainian Catholic Church caused the Church to re-open.


Members of St. George's Ukrainian Orthodox Congregation

The building was renamed St. George's Ukrainian Orthodox Church. St. George's closed its doors once more in 1952, and it was used for a short time as a Baptist church.