Almaty Russian Orthodox Church
One of the places of interest in Almaty is the Ascension Cathedral - the Almaty Russian Orthodox Church.
It is a 54 meters (177 ft) high orthodox church, the second tallest wooden building in the world. Been there?
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Almaty Russian Orthodox Church
A Brief History of the Ascension Cathedral
It was built by an architect Andrei Zenkov, famous as a founder of earthquake-proof construction. Therefore, the locals still call it the Zenkov Cathedral.
The first street to first east from the Cathedral is named after Zenkov.
The image of Andrei P.Zenkov
In 1887 there was a major earthquake in Verniy, todays
Almaty. It demolished majority of brick buildings. As a result the era
of earthquake proof buildings started in Verniy.
One of them was the Cathedral, which was built during 1904-1907. In
1911 the building proved its quality, as it was one of the few buildings
that survived the earthquake.
During the Soviet era it was used for many various purposes, but the church.
- 1929 it has been used the Central State Museum of Kazakh SSR;
- 1930 other public organisations moved into the building;
- It also served as the first Almaty Radio Transmission Tower.
- In 1985 when the Central Museum moved to a new building, the church was used as concert and exhibition hall.
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2007 the National Bank of Kazakhstan 500 KZT coins dedicated to the Ascension Cathedral in Almaty
Where is the Zenkov Cathedral?
It's not hard to find the Zenkov Cathedral in Almaty, as it's situated right in the city's historical center. If you find the Panfilov Park, you can find the Cathedral.
Russian Orthodox Christmas - 7 January
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