Archangel Michael Church (Qaskeleng)

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The Church of Archangel Michael ( Russian Храм во имя святого Архистратига Божия Михаила ) is a Russian Orthodox church building in the Kazakh city ​​of Qaskeleng . Built in 1900, it is now one of the oldest buildings in the city; it belongs to the Astana and Almaty eparchy .

history

Towards the end of the 19th century, Qaskeleng was a growing village and the Cossacks who lived here needed a church building. A predecessor of today's church was erected between 1866 and 1867. This was a small wooden church that soon no longer offered enough space for the growing population of the place. The church was badly damaged in an earthquake in 1887 and consideration was given to building a new, larger church at the same location. The construction of the new building was financed from church funds, partly also from donations from parishioners. In 1900 the construction of the new church building was completed and consecrated to the Archangel Michael on June 4th . This church was again a wooden structure on a stone foundation, a bell tower with five bells was added to the west facade .

Towards the end of the 1920s, the persecution of religious activities in the Soviet Union began to grow . In 1928 the church was first confiscated, then closed and looted. The bells were removed, the bell tower and central dome were destroyed and the interior changed. A second floor was built in the building and passages for doors were cut into the wooden walls. After that, the district library, then a cultural center and finally a dance club were housed here. In the 1970s, a stage was built on the site of the altar . From the late 1980s, the building deteriorated increasingly.

In 1995 the church building was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan. After the building was renovated, the first service was celebrated at Easter 1999. In 2011, golden domes were installed on the dome on the main building and on the bell tower. In 2013 ten new bells were installed in the bell tower.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Храм во имя святого Архистратига Божия Михаила, город Каскелен. mitropolia.kz, accessed April 24, 2020 (Russian).

Coordinates: 43 ° 12 ′ 3.1 ″  N , 76 ° 37 ′ 19.9 ″  E