President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith Visits the Ascension Cathedral – a Historic and Cultural Treasure of Kazakhstan

September 3, 2026. Alma-Ata. President of Laos Thongloun Sisoulith, who is in Kazakhstan on an official visit, visited the Ascension Cathedral.

The Head of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic was accompanied by B.M. Shakhanov, Deputy Akim of the Southern Capital.

In 2025, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ presented the President of Laos with the Order of Glory and Honor, First Class. The leader of the Lao Republic was awarded one of the highest Church distinctions “in recognition of his assistance to the Russian Orthodox Church.”

With the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, the President of Laos was welcomed at the principal cathedral of Alma-Ata by: Archpriest Alexander Suvorov, Dean of the Cathedral and Head of the Metropolitan District’s Department for Public Relations; Priest Georgy Sidorov, Head of the Administrative Secretariat of the Head of the Metropolitan District; and Protodeacon Roman Golovin, Head of the Metropolitan’s Protocol Service.

Archpriest Alexander and Priest Georgy told the distinguished guest about the history of the construction of the Ascension Cathedral, a historic and cultural treasure of Semirechye, as well as the uniqueness of its architecture and the present-day life of the principal cathedral of the Southern Capital. During the tour, the Cathedral Dean spoke in detail about the extensive professional restoration of the cathedral carried out from 2017 to 2020. It was noted that all the work was conducted under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Kazakhstan and UNESCO, with the involvement of highly qualified specialists from Kazakhstan, Russia, Serbia, Italy, Germany and France.

The clergy emphasized that the President of Kazakhstan, K.-J.K. Tokayev, who visited the cathedral in 2019, highly praised the results of the restoration and described the completed project as “the second birth of Kazakhstan’s national shrine.”

The President of Laos expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome and conveyed words of appreciation to the Head of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District. The distinguished guest highly praised the work of the Orthodox Church in preserving the country’s historical and cultural heritage and noted the significance of the cathedral as a symbol of Kazakhstan’s spiritual grandeur.

As mementos of his visit to the cathedral, the guest was presented with a book about the Ascension Cathedral and a musical album by the Choir of the Metropolitan District under the direction of O.N. Ovchinnikov, Honored Worker of Kazakhstan and Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation.