Erie's Orthodox Church of the Nativity celebrates return of the Troika Festival May 26

It's hard to imagine that anyone living, working or visiting in our great city of Erie has not had at least one experience of catching the flash of light off the gold domes that sit atop our beautiful bayfront. Visible by land, water, and air, from across the bayfront and on certain landing approaches at Erie International Airport, the domes of the Orthodox Church of the Nativity have become an iconic symbol of Erie's bayfront.

While many have seen them, and some have even had the opportunity to tour the church inside, most in Erie don't know the history of the domes or how they came to be positioned as guardians of Erie's historic east bayfront neighborhood.

The Orthodox Church of the Nativity was founded in 1919 by Eastern European immigrants who adhered to an ancient rite (the "Old Rite") within the Russian branch of the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church. These immigrants had suffered religious persecution by the Russian state government throughout the 18th and 19th centuries and had fled to areas in current-day Poland and Latvia. Like so many of Erie's New Americans, they came to the United States in search of freedom and a better life for themselves and their families.

After initially settling in southwestern Pennsylvania and working in the coal mines of that region, they were captivated by the opportunities for work on Erie's docks and brought their families north to our city on the lake. Finding work on those docks, they resolved to live as close to them as possible and built homes on lower Parade, German and Holland streets. By 1919, their community had grown, both in numbers and in wealth, to allow them to found and build a church in their religious tradition near their homes on East Front Street.

That church, smaller in size and topped with green painted domes, suffered a devastating fire in 1986 that left it beyond repair. The church's congregation, which was by then made up of the children and grandchildren of the original founders, as well as numerous non-Russian converts and families, elected to rebuild on the same site and dedicated the new church, and its iconic domes, in 1987.

Since then, the church and its members have taken a leading role in the preservation of Erie's east bayfront and, by extension, in support of an important neighborhood in our city. The church maintains vacant lots around its property, leads beautification efforts on and around East Front Street, opens our community center for civic and community events, and participates in the network of overflow homeless shelter sites across Erie. In commemoration of the church's 100th anniversary in 2019, a monument and reflection garden was erected in honor of its founders and its many members who served the United States Armed Forces during the conflicts and wars of 20th century.

After a three-year hiatus, the Church of the Nativity is proud to bring back its annual Troika Festival this year during Memorial Day weekend. We invite you to join us for this celebration of one of Erie's most important, historic and beautiful neighborhoods as we raise funds to continue our efforts in the east bayfront and to ensure that our gold domes serve as a beacon on the bay for many generations to come.

Daria Devlin is the co-founder and co-chair of the Church of the Nativity's annual Troika Festival. She also serves as vice president of the church's parish council where she oversees facilities, maintenance and fundraising. The festival will be held Friday, May 26, 4-9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, May 27 and 28, noon-6 p.m., at the Church of the Nativity Community Center, 109 German St., Erie.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Troika Festival returns to Erie on Friday, immigrant heritage honored