This unique landmark center has become a point of attraction for tourists from across the CIS. The complex features a guesthouse and the memorial house-museum of St. Vasily of Zharkent, recreated in the style of a Semirechye Cossack estate from the turn of the 19th-20th centuries. The distance by car from the city of Almaty is 270 km. The excursion lasts approximately 12 hours, including the round-trip bus journey. The tour includes an introduction to the jewel of Semirechye – the Valley of Castles Canyon on the Charyn River – and a visit to unique sacred sites located at the foot of the Tien Shan Mountains, in the village of Podgornenskaya (now the village of Kyrgyzsai, Uyghur District of Almaty Region).
 

Hieromartyr Vasily of Zharkent

One of the well-known and venerated saints of Kazakhstan is Hieromartyr Vasily of Zharkent. The term “hieromartyr” refers to clergy—deacons, priests, or bishops—who suffered for Christ. The name of a holy martyr is often followed by the name of the locality where they lived or suffered for their faith. The future Hieromartyr Vasily was born in 1866 into the family of a merchant, Dmitry Kolmykov, in what is now Azerbaijan. From an early age, he developed a special love for church services and a desire to become a priest. However, it was many years before he could fulfill his dream. Vasily Dmitrievich, being a well-educated and musical individual, became a singing instructor at the Tomsk Diocesan School, where he worked in the field of education from 1908 to 1911. For some time, he served as a psalmist in Novo-Nikolaevsk (modern-day Novosibirsk). Vasily was married, and together with his wife, they raised an adopted daughter.

On January 2, 1913, he began serving in the Omsk Diocese as a psalmist in the Church of St. Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles in the village of Yuzhno-Podolskoye. On January 20 of the same year, Vasily Kolmykov’s long-cherished dream came true when he was ordained a deacon.

From February 5, 1914, he combined his diaconal duties with serving as a psalmist at the church in the village of Chernovinsk in the Zmeinogorsk District. On March 12, 1914, Father Vasily began serving in the Church of the village of Chernoluchinskoye in the Tyukalinsk District. From 1914 to 1915, he served in the Don Diocese before moving to what is now Kazakhstan.

In 1916, a significant event took place in his life—he was ordained a priest. The fifty-year-old pastor was appointed rector of the church in the village of Meshchanskoye, Zharkent District, Semirechye Region of the Turkestan Territory. Father Vasily’s parish also included the residents of nearby settlements: Karkara, Vladislavskoye, Novo-Kievskoye, and Okhotnichye.

Father Vasily endured many trials. Along with his wife and parishioners, he found himself amidst the turmoil of the “Kyrgyz Rebellion,” which claimed the lives of thousands of innocent civilians in 1916. Showing true heroism, he saved parishioners from the hands of the insurgents and organized firefighting efforts.

His next place of service was the village of Voznesenskoye in the Kopal District, where he ministered for almost a year before being transferred to the village of Podgornenskaya in the Zharkent District. Today, this village is known as Kyrgyzsai in the Uyghur District of Almaty Region. It was in this village that Father Vasily met his martyrdom. There, in Podgornenskaya, Zosima Funtikov, a hereditary Cossack from the Omsk Province known for his honesty, diligence, and piety, became his assistant in parish affairs. Zosima raised his children to strictly follow the Gospel commandments.

Shortly after the October Revolution of 1917, the anti-religious regime extended its power over Semirechye. The entire region witnessed persecution of believers and widespread desecration and destruction of monasteries, churches, and chapels. In 1918, a Red Army detachment entered the village of Podgornenskaya. The first to be arrested was Father Vasily, followed by the church warden Zosima Funtikov, whose house was searched, and church property and money confiscated. Zosima himself was also arrested, along with thirteen other Orthodox Christians.

All the arrested were led out of the village to a cemetery and executed with a machine gun. Before their execution, the priest and others were subjected to beatings and various forms of torture. The Red Army soldiers prohibited burial of the martyred victims. On a hill opposite the cemetery, they placed a machine gun to prevent anyone from approaching the executed. That night, the villagers—Cossacks, including Zosima’s sons—secretly came to the cemetery and began digging a mass grave. The machine gunner, hearing sounds from the cemetery, periodically fired bursts, sweeping the area. Under the cover of night, the Cossacks managed to bury Father Vasily, Zosima, and thirteen other murdered villagers in a communal grave.

For more than 80 years, local residents cared for the grave. Over time, a small chapel was erected on the site, with a perpetually burning lampada. Often, especially on commemorative days, locals would come to the martyr’s grave to pray and light candles. Though the village eventually became deserted and the chapel was dismantled for firewood, the memory of the martyrs endured. Their grave, enclosed by a simple fence and topped with an old wooden cross, remained a place of secret veneration for the innocent sufferers, even during periods of administrative persecution for faith.

Father Vasily Kolmykov was rehabilitated under the law of the Republic of Kazakhstan on April 14, 1993, and at the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on August 13-16, 2000, he was canonized as a new martyr and confessor for veneration by the entire Church.

The discovery of the relics of Hieromartyr Vasily (Kolmykov) and the Orthodox Christians who suffered with him took place on April 26, 2002. They were interred in a special reliquary in the Church of St. Elijah in the city of Zharkent, where they remain to this day. The commemoration of Hieromartyr Vasily is celebrated on September 16.

On April 26, 2024, a significant event took place, marking a major contribution to the veneration of the memory of Hieromartyr Vasily of Zharkent. Restoration work was completed on the house where Hieromartyr Vasily of Zharkent lived and ministered, located in the village of Kyrgyzsai (formerly Podgornoye) in the Almaty Region. The extensive work to establish the house museum and create exhibits narrating the life and ministry of Priest Vasily Kolmykov was carried out with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan by the public foundation “Apostle,” led by President G.G. Sosnovsky.

Next to the house of Hieromartyr Vasily, there is a spiritual, cultural, and pilgrimage center, offering guests a place to rest after their journey, enjoy a hearty meal, and engage in conversation with clergy and experienced guides.

The specialists from the “Apostle” foundation have developed a special pilgrimage-tourism route combining visits to well-known natural landmarks (such as the Charyn Canyon and hot springs in Chunja) with opportunities for veneration at holy sites associated with the feats of the New Martyrs of Kazakhstan.

• An immersive excursion into the pre-revolutionary history of Semirechye;
• A visit to the memorial house-museum of St. Vasily of Zharkent (make your heartfelt wish);
• Traditional cuisine prepared with love and reflecting the local cultural flavor;
• Visits to holy sites with a rich and storied past;
• Comfortable transport accompanied by a guide;
• Watching the sunset from the rooftop of Charyn Canyon.

Contacts:

Address: 050002, Almaty, Medeu District, Ashimbaev Street 26

Phone: +7 777 333 6003

WhatsApp: +7 777 504 1843

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