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The '''Eparchy of Astana and Almty''' is a [[diocese]] of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] with [[jurisdiction]] over the cities of Astana and Almaty and the provinces of Almaty, East Kazakhstan, Karaganda, and Pavlodar in the Republic of Kazakhstan. In July 2010, the [[Holy Synod]] of the Russian Orthodox Church established the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan as a metropolia, with the then-Archbishop of Astana and Almaty being elevated to the rank of metropolitan and First Hierarch of the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan.

==History==
In 1871, the Russian Orthodox Church in Turkestan was organized as a diocese with its seat in Verne (now called Almaty). Forty-five years later a separate vicariate was created for the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan with its seat in Verne, whilst in June 1945 the Diocese of Alma-Ata and Kazakhstan was established. As the Soviet Union collapsed this diocese was divided into three dioceses, the Eparchies of Alma-Ata and Semipalatinsk, Chimkent and Akmola, and the Urals and Guryevskiy. 

==Eparchy today==
Following the designation of Astana as the new capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan the seat of the Eparchy of Alma-Ata and Semipalatinsk was transferred from Almaty to Astana, while the diocese itself was renamed the Eparchy of Astana and Almaty. The Eparchy today shepherds 58 [[parish]]es, eight monastic communities, and a theological [[seminary]] in Almaty and maintains two diocesan [[cathedral]]s, the Cathedral of the Dormition in Astana and the Cathedral of the Ascension in Almaty.

==Hierarchs==
*Metropolitan [[Alexander (Mogilev) of Astana and Almaty|Aleksandr of Astana and Almaty]] (2010-present)
*Bishop [[Gennadius (Gogolev) of Kaskelen|Gennadiy of Kaskelen]], Auxiliary (2010-present)

==External links==
*[http://mitropolia.kz/ Metropolia of Kazakhstan] (Official Website)
*[http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/78634.html Eparchy of Astana and Alma-Ata] (Moscow Patriarchate)


[[Category: Dioceses|Astana]]
[[Category: Moscow Patriarchate Dioceses|Astana]]
[[Category: Orthodoxy in Kazakhstan]]