Address: 050019, Khaliulina St., 45A.

Phone: (+7 727) 234-48-24.

Historical Background

Two historical events in the Semirechye region, coinciding with the days of the memory of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, led to the consecration of the Malostanitsa church in her honor: the founding of the Almaty stanitsa on July 8, 1853, and the expulsion of the Kokandians from the region on October 22, 1860.

Exact data on the year of construction of the first church has not been preserved. On
November 25, 1864, the Cossacks of the Greater and Lesser Almaty stanitsas (now Almaty) gathered for a community meeting to discuss the major repair of the parish. Initially, it was formed from a prayer house and lacked sufficient strength in its original construction. The meeting decided to dismantle the dilapidated bell tower, strengthen the foundation, replace the roof and floors, and plaster the walls and ceiling, which was done.

During the 1887 earthquake, the church was only partially damaged (more during the natural event at Christmas 1911).
In 1897, the Cossacks of the Lesser Stanitsa decided to improve their church, as it had fallen into complete disrepair and "due to its cramped size, did not match the number of parishioners." However, the stanitsa community had no funds for construction, so in the summer of that year, they petitioned through Bishop Nikon (Bogyayevlenksy) of Tashkent and Turkestan for aid from the treasury for building construction.

The parish was built according to the design of the famous Russian architect M. Brusilovsky for almost 10 years, from 1889 to 1898. The consecration was performed by Bishop Arkady (Karpinsky) of Tashkent and Turkestan in 1901. Services have been held since 1898.

During the years of persecution, many of the church’s priests suffered at the hands of atheists. Recently, during restoration works conducted for the parish's 100th anniversary, elders of the Lesser Stanitsa, Vladimir Matronin and Valentin Novikov, pointed out that a white cross stood at the vestibule of the northern aisle until the church's closure. Since burial at the entrance to the House of God was inappropriate, it is reasonable to assume that the cross was placed at the site of a priest's terrible death. In 1919, a priest was doused with gasoline and burned. Another clergyman was tied to a horse and torn to pieces on the stones of the Tashkent tract. Today, there are grounds to believe that these were the new martyrs, brothers Parfeni and Vasily Krasivsky.

The moment of persecution of Orthodoxy coinciding with the destruction of church unity included the blasphemous, unlawful closure, and destruction of Tikhon churches. In a report from the Jetysu department of the GPU for May 1925, it was stated that an active Tikhonovist group was uncovered in the Lesser Stanitsa, and decisive measures were taken against them.

In 1925, in the area of the former monastery farm (now the cold spring in the area of the village of Zarya Vostoka), a large group of active Tikhonovists was hiding, spiritually cared for by the priest of the Kazan parish, Yefimy Krugovykh. His granddaughter Muza Georgievna (who was 8 years old at the time) said, "A large group of us went to the former monastery farm because an elderly Cossack arrived with sad news, saying, 'Many were killed there by atheists.' We saw five hanged men, including my grandfather, and five others were shot and cut to pieces with sabers." The church was defended at the cost of 10 lives. The parish was left with one rector, but he was often assisted by Father Yakov Yakushev from Tastak and Protopriests Mikhail Kovalev and Alexander Khlebnikov, who had no place but did not reconcile with the renovationist schism.

At the end of 1925, a small group of hierarchs, who adhered to the Tikhonov orientation but opposed the patriarchal form of governance and therefore the patriarchal locum tenens, Metropolitan Sergius, created a new church governing body—the Provisional Supreme Church Council headed by Archbishop Grigory (Yatskovsky) of Yekaterinburg. Local Grigorians—priests Korzhov and Budarin, along with Archbishop Konstantin (Kroshevich), who arrived in the city, filed a lawsuit with the Almaty City Council to transfer the Kazan church to them, but they were given the Vvedensky church instead.

On November 28, 1928, the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Kazakh SSR, Pankov, sent an order to the administrative department of the Almaty district executive committee to close the parish. And on December 7, a reply was sent to the NKVD that the issue of closing the Lesser Stanitsa church was not raised, except for a few newspaper articles, and they could not close the parish.

In 1929, clergy began to be exiled to Almaty. The Kazan church sheltered four destitute families, sharing with them bread collected from their plot and given by parishioners for performing rites. The authorities accused the church's rector, Father Dmitry Polivkin, of hiding surplus bread and agitating parishioners against the closure of the Lesser Stanitsa parish, and published this in the press. Father Dmitry was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison and an additional surrender of 50 poods of grain. But for his humility and labor, he was released early after 8 months.

On December 10, 1932, Bishop Herman (Weinberg) of Almaty and Kazakhstan, serving in the Kazan church at the time, was arrested, sentenced, and died in Karlag.

On January 7, 1934, a secret letter was sent to the Lesser Stanitsa Council proposing to transfer the church to a school. Given that many complaints had been received from the community on this issue, it was considered necessary to expedite the closure. The building was handed over for cultural and educational purposes.

Rector Father Dmitry Polivkin and his wife were accused of agitating against participation in council elections. They were sentenced even before the church's closure, but due to old age and critical health, the priest was released and died in the winter of 1934, buried on the church grounds. His wife died in 1938.

The second priest, Ioann Druzhinin, who served with the rector since 1927, returned from prison and exile to Almaty only in 1950.

On March 22, 1934, the church was sealed. Almost immediately, the building was handed over to the kolkhoz "East Ray" club.
Unlike other city churches, the Kazan church never became renovationist.

It was returned to believers only on December 16, 1944. It was consecrated by the acting bishop of the Tashkent and Turkestan diocese, Archbishop Kirill (Pospelov).

On October 26, 1945, St. Nicholas, Metropolitan of Almaty and Kazakhstan, began his ministry in the Kazan church. Metropolitan Joseph (Chernov), venerated by Kazakh believers, also loved to serve here.

In 1953, a chapel in honor of the Great Martyr George the Victorious was added to the main building.

Current Status

After 1991, for several years, repair and restoration work was carried out in the cathedral. With the efforts of the rector and parishioners, new load-bearing structures were installed, and the internal and external appearances were changed.

A necropolis for the burial of deceased clergy is located on the grounds.

A Sunday school operates at the parish.

Church Relics

A particle of the relics of the Great Martyr Kyriakia.
An icon of the Mother of God "Antiochian," specially written for this parish on Mount Athos and gifted in 1967 by Archbishop Joseph (Chernov).
An icon "Only Begotten Son," which miraculously renewed in the 1950s.