Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan Begins Pilgrimage to the Shrines of the St. Petersburg Metropolia

September 3, 2026. The Head of the Orthodox Church of Kazakhstan, Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, began a pilgrimage to the shrines of the St. Petersburg Metropolia.

During the pilgrimage, undertaken at the invitation of Metropolitan Barsanuphius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga, the Head of the Metropolitan District is accompanied by O.N. Ovchinnikov, Secretary of the Metropolitan District, Honored Worker of Kazakhstan, Honored Art Worker of Russia, and member of the Patriarchal Council for the Development of Russian Church Singing, and P.V. Sokolov, Personal Secretary.

Upon arriving in Russia’s Northern Capital, Metropolitan Alexander visited Bolsheokhtinskoye Cemetery, where he celebrated a memorial service at the resting place of his spiritual mentor – the elder-hierarch Archbishop Meliton (Solovyov) of Tikhvin – and memorial litias at the grave of Bishop Ioann (Ivanov) of Kirov and Slobodskoy and at the graves of the parents of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’, Archpriest Mikhail and Raisa Gundyaev.

At St. Nicholas Church at Bolsheokhtinskoye Cemetery, which remained open throughout the years of atheist persecution, the archpastor venerated the revered icons of the Mother of God “Quick to Hearken,” St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Great Martyr Paraskeva. The principal shrines of the church are ancient icons gathered from cathedrals and churches in the city on the Neva that had been closed or destroyed.