The Ascension Cathedral (russian: Вознесенский собор ''Vosnesenskiy sobor'', kk, Вознесенск кафедралы шіркеуі ''Voznesensk kafedraly shirkeýi''), also known as Zenkov Cathedral, is a

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

located in Panfilov Park in

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. Completed in 1907, the cathedral is made out o
wood but without nails
Its height is 56 meters tall, and is claimed to be the second tallest wooden building in the world.

History

In the late 19th century the first bishops of the

Turkistan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turke ...

eparchy Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on th ...

discussed the need for a Russian Orthodox Church in Almaty. On September 26, 1903, the bishop of Turkestan and

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

, Paisii (Vinogradov) consecrated the foundation of the church. Construction took place between 1904 and 1907. The belfry was erected on September 14, 1906. The cathedral survived the 1911 earthquake with minimal damage, even though it was built without any nails, which some bishops attributed to divine intervention. Some speculate the decision to refrain from using nails was due to their contribution to the crucifiction of Jesus. Zhamkhanova, K. A., A. K. Botanov, and Manash Kabashevich Kozybaev. ''Pamiatniki istorii i kulʹtury Almaty: katalog dokumentov''. Almaty: Izd-vo Ȯner, 2003. . p. 39. The inner structure of the cathedral was made in art workshops in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

. The

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand t ...

was painted by N. Khludov. After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

the cathedral was used to house the Central State Museum of the

Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic ; kk, Қазақ Советтік Социалистік Республикасы) *1991: Republic of Kazakhstan (russian: Республика Казахстан; kk, Қазақстан Республикасы) , linking_name = the ...

. From 1930 to 1940 it was used by notable public organizations. The first radio transmitters in Almaty were situated in the cathedral's belfry. Restoration work on the cathedral began in 1973 and lasted until 1976. In May 1995 control of the cathedral was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1997, after additional restoration work, it was reopened for religious services. Since July 2017, the cathedral has undergone a large-scale reconstruction, which ended on October 28, 2020. The cathedral is currently open to the public, and welcomes newcomers and guests.

Coin "Cathedral"

On June 2, 2007, the National Bank of Kazakhstan put into circulation the coin "Cathedral Cathedral" (proof quality) of 500 tenge in 925 sterling silver with the mintage of 4000 pieces with the aim to promote the understanding of the culture of Kazakhstan, to favor the idea of religion as a peaceful teaching about spiritual and moral self-improvement of person. Coin's coat of arms of Kazakhstan as well as inscriptions divided by dots on its circumference saying "500 ТЕҢГЕ", "ҚАЗАҚСТАН РЕСПУБЛИКАСЫ" in Kazakh and "РЕСПУБЛИКА КАЗАХСТАН" in Russian are depicted on the obverse. Reverse: in the center - image of Voznesensky Cathedral of Alma-Ata city, in the upper part - circumferential inscriptions "КАФЕДРАЛЫҚ ШІРКЕУ" and "КАФЕДРАЛЬНЫЙ СОБОР" and trademark of Kazakhstan Mint, on the left side - inscription "ALMATY 2007", on the bottom - inscription "Ag 925 31.1g". Coin of Kazakhstan Cathedr-r

References

External links

3D learning game about Ascension Cathedral
{{Almaty Cathedrals in Kazakhstan Buildings and structures in Almaty Eastern Orthodox church buildings in Kazakhstan Russian Orthodox cathedrals in Asia Churches completed in 1903 Russian Revival architecture UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards winners