As part of the “Religion” discipline program, Professor Umirzakova L., Ph.D. and Associate Professor Imankul A., Ph.D., organized a tour for students of the groups USP-102 and FSSP-101 in three places of worship of Astana city on April 19, 2016.   

The first temple, which was attended by students, was the main Catholic cathedral of the city, built in 1999, with typical architecture of the Catholic places of worship.

The second place was a Jewish synagogue “Beit Rachel Chabad Lubavitch”, built in 2004. The synagogue was built thanks to the president of the Eurasian Jewish Congress and the Jewish Congress of Kazakhstan Alexander Mashkevich, as a tribute to the memory of his mother. In the main hall on a pedestal mounted shard there is a stone taken from the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. It is worth noting that conversation with rabbi Shmuel Karnaukhov, who told very interesting facts about the history of Judaism, aroused particular interest among students.

The third building, which was visited by our students and faculty, was Constantine and Elenensky Cathedral, an Orthodox Church, which is the oldest of the currently operating houses of worship on the territory of Astana, built in 1856.

All members of these churches during the meeting talked about the basics of their faith, about the history of the temple, answered to numerous questions of the students.

Of course, this tour did not cover all the temples of the city, as almost all the houses of worship of the world religions are found in our capital. However, the tour arouse great interest in students, they noted that the conversation with the representatives of these religions, Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Judaism, helped them understand some issues on which they have been looking for the answer.