Russian Orthodox Church

St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral is the only remnant of Russian Orthodox architecture in Osh and was the central landmark around which the Slavic community and the so-called “new city” began to form in Osh in the late 19th century.

The first building of the church, a 23-metre long and eight-metre high wooden-framed mudbrick church, was built in 1877 with private donations. Later it was enlarged with an altar and a belfry with eight bells.

In 1879 the church was consecrated in the name of Michael the Archangel, and its first parishioners were soldiers and officers of the 4^th Turkestan Battalion, who were stationed in Osh along with district officials and their families.

In 1904, construction began on a new building, designed on the lines of military regimental churches which developed in the early twentieth century. The old building had already become overcrowded due to the rapid growth of the Slavic community in Osh. The new church, which bore a 32-metre-high belltower and could seat 700 people, was consecrated on November 2^nd, 1910.

In 1928 the Osh Executive Committee took over the church building for a club. The bell tower, iconostasis, altar and dome were destroyed. Various large events began to be held in the church; it was the only roomy building in the city.

In 1952 the building housed the House of Culture No.1, then the Regional Philharmonic. The building was partially reconstructed, damaging its original architecture.

Believers worshipped in the chapel building next to the church until it was taken from them in 1962. Until the collapse of the USSR, believers then prayed in a prayer house on 19 Khokhlov Street, next to the Orthodox cemetery. The private house was bought with donations from parishioners.

The church was returned to Osh’s Christian community on March 4^th, 1991. Icons for the church were collected throughout the city, and the church was opened by Easter. The church was consecrated on December 2^nd, 1995 by the Archbishop of Tashkent and Central Asia.