Church of the Theotokos of Kazan in Kyzylorda: A Russian-Byzantine Orthodox Church
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Kazakhstan
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Russian
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page11 sections
History
The Church of the Theotokos of Kazan in Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan, is a Russian Orthodox church built in the Russian-Byzantine style between 1890 and 1896. Dedicated to the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, it is the only functioning Russian Orthodox church in Kyzylorda and the surrounding region, and it is protected as an architectural monument of republican significance.
Early Orthodox worship in Perovsk
Orthodox worship began in Perovsk, the former name of present-day Kyzylorda, on 15 October 1855. Services were held in a mobile tent church founded by the priest Lev Gorokhovsky. From August 1856 until November 1864, the church was served by Andrei Yevgrafovich Malov.
A permanent church was erected in 1863 for worship dedicated to the Kazan Icon, a major Russian Orthodox image of the Theotokos, the Christian title for Mary, the mother of Jesus. Its walls were made from unfired brick and its roof from felt, but heavy rains caused the building to collapse in 1868. A replacement was constructed that same year with unfired-brick walls, a fired-brick foundation, and an iron roof. It remained in use until the present church was consecrated. The earlier building was then dismantled, and a chapel was built at the site of its former altar. That chapel has not survived.
Construction and early administration
Construction of the present church began in 1890 and continued for more than five years. The local architect A. Esakov designed the building, while the engineer I. Kalinin directed its construction. The church was consecrated on 6 December 1896.
The work cost 35,000 rubles. Residents of Perovsk contributed approximately 5,000 rubles, and state funds provided the remainder. Until December 1906, military authorities administered the church. It was then transferred to diocesan administration, meaning the authority of the Orthodox Church’s regional bishop.
From 1928 to 1931, the church was served by Hieromonk Cyprian (Nelidov), an Orthodox monk who was also an ordained priest. He was a spiritual son of Bishop Barnabas (Belyaev), who also prayed in the church during those years.
Closure, reuse, and restoration
The church closed in the mid-1930s. Its building was successively used as a reception point for special settlers, an observatory, and the regional local-history museum. The museum moved to more suitable premises in 1982, leaving the building unused. Although it had been declared a republican architectural monument, restoration funding was not provided.
In May 1989, the city executive committee transferred the building to the Russian Orthodox Church, and Orthodox services resumed. Parishioners and benefactors from other regions and countries financed restoration. Further related work took place in 2014 and 2015.
Most of the original wall paintings were lost while the church was closed, and no descriptions of their former appearance survived. Kazakh artists therefore created new paintings. Crosses were restored on the domes, and new bells made by Shuvalov craftsmen in Yaroslavl were installed. Before the bells were fitted, cut-down oxygen cylinders served for several years as a makeshift belfry.
The church remains a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Aktobe Diocese of the Kazakhstan Metropolitan District. It is included in Kazakhstan’s state register of historical and cultural monuments. A 2008 register entry incorrectly identified it as the Church of Christ the Savior, although it supplied the building’s actual address. A Soviet-period state-protection plaque gives another conflicting date, 1878.
Remains
The church is a brick Russian-Byzantine building organized around a central, cross-domed volume and an entrance section. It measures 17 by 28 metres and rises approximately 18 to 19 metres. Its walls are built from yellow fired brick manufactured in Kazalinsk, more than 300 kilometres from Perovsk. The design belongs to a widely used architectural type, with comparable examples in Astrakhan and Tashkent.
Plan and exterior
Cross-domed worship hall
The principal volume has a cruciform plan with four arms of equal length, forming a Greek cross. A cross-domed plan places the main dome above the central crossing of the arms. Additional rooms occupy the corners near the entrance.
The crossing rises into a tall two-level interior volume beneath an octagonal drum, the polygonal structure that lifts a dome above the roof. The drum is divided into two parts and pierced by eight narrow windows with semicircular arched heads. Small domes terminate the arms of the cross, and their forms correspond to the facades. The upper facades contain tall three-part windows with semicircular arches, while further entrance openings appear at the lower level of the side facades.
Entrance section and tower
The worship hall is entered from the west through an entrance section crowned by a smaller dome on a tall octagonal drum. The entrance level lies below a choir gallery, and three windows in the drum provide light for the gallery. The building has one church tower and two domes.
Rustication, patterned masonry that gives a wall a more strongly articulated surface, shapes the facades. Profiled exterior cornices frame the building, while a decorative horizontal band inside divides the space into two levels.
Interior and surviving furnishings
Worship space
The church has one nave, one altar, and one iconostasis. An iconostasis is the screen separating the sanctuary from the main worship space. The building accommodates approximately 250 to 300 people. Its original wall paintings were largely lost during the decades of non-religious use, and the interior now includes paintings created by Kazakh artists during the restoration.
Furnishings and icons
Part of the original church furnishings survived, along with several icons. Among them is a field icon that formerly belonged to an Orenburg Cossack detachment. The Orenburg Cossacks were a military-host community of the Russian Empire associated with the Orenburg region.
