St. Nicholas Cathedral is a particularly popular spot for Almaty’s worshippers, thanks in part to its impressive collection of relics and icons, which includes an icon of namesake St. Nicholas, as well as an ark said to contain relics of twenty different saints. Despite being quite a small church, it is set in one of the city’s smaller parks, and so the bright blue exterior and gold domes stand out beautifully. Interestingly, it was only closed for a few years by the Soviet regime, and was gifted back to the people as early as 1946, and services have continued unabated ever since.