St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral

In the Tremont neighborhood just south of downtown Cleveland stands St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral, widely considered one of the finest examples of Russian church architecture in the United States. The congregation organized in eighteen ninety-six to serve the city's Russian immigrant community; the cathedral opened in nineteen thirteen at a cost of around seventy thousand dollars.

Its thirteen onion domes and ornate interior draw visitors on their own merits, but the cathedral gained a second fame in the summer of nineteen seventy-seven, when director Michael Cimino filmed the wedding sequence for The Deer Hunter here. The actual parish priest officiated the on-screen ceremony, giving the scene an authenticity that helped the film win five Academy Awards including Best Picture. The cathedral is on the National Register of Historic Places and is still an active parish.