The Ascension Cathedral of the city of Almaty was visited by the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation M.V. Degtyarev

February 22, 2025. Almaty. The historical and spiritual pearl of Kazakhstan - the Ascension Cathedral - was visited by the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Mikhail Vladimirovich Degtyarev, who is on an official visit to the southern capital of the Republic.

The guest was met in the main temple of Almaty with the blessing of the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan of Astana and Kazakhstan Alexander by: the key keeper of the cathedral, the head of the public relations department of the Metropolitan District, Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, the head of the administrative secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District, Priest Georgy Sidorov and the head of the protocol service of the Metropolitan, Protodeacon Roman Golovin.

Archpriest Alexander told the Russian minister about the history of the construction of the Ascension Cathedral, emphasizing that this year marks 30 years since the church was returned to its rightful owner, the Orthodox Church. Father Sacristan shared documentary evidence with his interlocutor that during the construction of the cathedral, erected according to the design of the talented architect, engineer A.P. Zenkov, innovative technologies and principles of seismic resistance for that era were used, thanks to which the cathedral survived the terrible earthquake of 1911, which destroyed almost all the buildings in the city of Verny.

During the excursion, the Russian minister learned about the details of the full-scale professional restoration of the church, which was carried out on the initiative and blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan from 2017 to 2020 under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Kazakhstan and UNESCO, with the involvement of local scientists and high-level specialists from Russia, Serbia, Italy, Germany and France.

Archpriest Alexander noted in his story that the President of the country Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich Tokayev, during a visit to the cathedral, during a meeting with the Head of the Metropolitan District, highly praised this grand restoration project, calling it "the second birth of the national shrine of Kazakhstan."

M.V. Degtyarev noted the elegance and grandeur of the temple's exterior and the beauty of the interiors. In front of the shrines of the temple, including the gift of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill - the icon "The Image of the Lord Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands" and the gift of Metropolitan Alexander - the Feodorovsky-Alma-Ata icon of the Holy Mother of God, which is an exact copy, "measure for measure", of the miraculous icon of the Queen of Heaven, the minister lit candles.

In memory of his visit to the temple, the guest was presented with an album about the Ascension Cathedral. Mikhail Vladimirovich thanked the clergy for the tour and conveyed words of good wishes to the Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan.