The city of Almati, capital of its province, lies just north of the Trans-Ili(1) Mountains. Though all but one of its 18th century houses was destroyed in a 19th century quake, it did not discourage the local Christians in 1904 from building Ascencion Cathedral, one of the worlds' tallest wooden buildings.
(1) In transliterated Russian, Zailijskij (or Zailiyskiy).