Alma-Ata is also included in the list of cities whose sights are temples that are unique in their artistic and historical value. The Ascension Cathedral, erected there at the beginning of the last century, is the second largest wooden structure in the world. In addition, due to its unique earthquake resistance, it is recognized as an outstanding engineering achievement.
The Cathedral, which was waiting for the Orthodox Alma-Ata
The Ascension Cathedral in the city of Verny - that was the name of the current capital of Kazakhstan - was built in 1907. The question of the need for its construction was raised long before the start of construction, but at that time it was not possible to obtain the necessary funds for the work. Only in 1903, the parishioners of the Turkestan diocese, with the support of the highest metropolitan church leadership, the required amount was collected. In the same year, a solemn laying of the temple took place.
Particular difficulty in creating a building project and carrying out work was caused by adverse seismic conditions, from which the current Alma-Ata has suffered more than once. The Ascension Cathedral was to be built taking into account possible earthquakes, fatal for the low, mostly single-story buildings that the city of Verny consisted of in those years.
Design features of the cathedral
The building architect K.A. Borisoglebsky and the engineer-manager A.P. Zenkov brilliantly coped with this task. The cathedral built by them more than 40 meters high consisted entirely of wooden parts interconnected by special metal fasteners.
With its grandiose height, the design turned out to be unusually flexible and able to withstand soil shocks of considerable strength. This quality of the new temple was fully manifested during the earthquake that befell the city in 1910. In a short time, it turned into ruins the rest of the buildings, bypassing the Orthodox church. The evidence of contemporaries of that natural disaster has survived, telling about how, during the tremors, the bell tower of the cathedral swayed and bent, like an elastic beam, but did not succumb to the raging elements.
The fate of the building in the Soviet period
After the revolution, services in the Ascension Cathedral were discontinued, and the building itself was converted into a museum and to accommodate a number of state institutions. This saved him from inevitable destruction. It is known that when radio broadcasting appeared in the republic in the thirties, its first broadcasts were broadcast using an antenna mounted on the bell tower of the cathedral.
In 1985, changes began in the life of the former cathedral building. The museum located within its walls moved to a new modern complex specially erected for this purpose, and for ten years the concert and exhibition pavilion was located in it.
The revival of the religious life of the cathedral
In the nineties, Alma-Ata also found itself in the cycle of democratic changes that swept the whole country. The Ascension Cathedral was returned to believers and, after a series of necessary work, resumed Orthodox services. Today it is not only a major religious center, but also the focus of educational and social-charitable activities. It can rightly be argued that the history of the Ascension Cathedral is entering its new stage.