Astana (formerly Nur-Sultan (2019–2022), formerly Astana (1997–2019), formerly Akmola (1994–1997), formerly Tselinograd (1961–1992) — the capital of Kazakhstan since 1997 when President Nursultan Nazarbayev moved the capital from Almaty to the small steppe city of Akmola on the Ishim River on the vast Kazakh steppe (the world's largest continuous steppe, stretching from Ukraine to China)) is the most extraordinary planned capital city in the world — a city that barely existed 30 years ago and is now a metropolis of 1.3 million people with one of the most remarkable collections of contemporary architecture in the world. The decision to move the capital from Almaty (the cosmopolitan, earthquake-prone, culturally established southern city surrounded by the Tian Shan mountains) to the nearly empty steppe north of the country was strategic: to anchor Kazakhstan's claim to its vast northern territories (historically Slavic, Russian-speaking, close to Russia), to create a new symbol of independent Kazakh nationhood after the Soviet collapse, and to shift the political center of gravity away from the tribal and clan networks of the Almaty south. The result is a city of superlatives: the Bayterek Tower (the 97m steel-and-glass tower that is the primary symbol of Astana — the height of 97 represents the year 1997, the year of the capital move), the Khan Shatyr (the world's largest tent — the 200m transparent ETFE tent designed by Norman Foster (2010) enclosing an entire tropical resort with a beach club, a river, and a shopping mall in the middle of the Kazakh steppe), the Palace of Peace and Accord (the Pyramid — the 62m glass-and-steel pyramid designed by Norman Foster (2006) for the triennial Congress of World Religions), the Nursultan Nazarbayev Center (the massive civic-cultural complex named for the founding president), and the "Left Bank" (the Yesil district — the planned government, business and entertainment district built from scratch on the south bank of the Ishim River, designed according to a master plan by the Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa).
Bayterek Tower (the "Tall Poplar" in Kazakh — the 97m tower on the main Nurzhol Boulevard of the Left Bank: the primary symbol of independent Kazakhstan: the tower consists of a white concrete trunk (the tree) supporting a golden sphere (the egg held by the mythological Samruk bird in the Kazakh myth of the Tree of Life: the Samruk (the magical bird of Kazakh mythology) lays its egg (the Sun) each year in the branches of the Baiterek (the World Tree), and the firebird Phoenix burns the egg each year — the cycle of the seasons and of life): at the summit of the 97m tower, inside the golden sphere: the imprint of President Nazarbayev's right hand in a gold-plated mold (visitors are encouraged to place their own hand in the imprint), and the panoramic 360° view of the Astana Left Bank (the planned cityscape of contemporary buildings visible in every direction across the flat steppe).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideKhan Shatyr ("Royal Marquee" — the "world's largest tent": the 200m-tall transparent ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene — the same plastic polymer used for the Eden Project in Cornwall and the Beijing Water Cube) tent structure designed by Norman Foster + Partners (2010) on the northern bank of the Ishim River, at the north end of Nurzhol Boulevard: the tent encloses 140,000m² of interior space (the area of 10 football pitches): inside: a complete tropical resort (the "Aquapark" with the artificial beach, the river flowing around the beach, the palm trees, the 30°C water temperature — all maintained at +28°C to +35°C year-round while the Kazakh steppe outside can reach −40°C in January), a shopping mall, restaurants, a minigolf course, and a park. The ETFE foil of the tent is translucent (it allows daylight in) but provides full insulation — one of the most technically ambitious architectural enclosures ever built).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuidePalace of Peace and Accord (the "Pyramid" — the 62m glass-and-steel pyramid designed by Norman Foster + Partners (2006) for Kazakhstan's triennial Congress of World Religions (the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions — the most significant interfaith dialogue event in the post-Soviet world: representatives of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Zoroastrianism meeting under one pyramid roof): the pyramid contains: the Congress Hall at the apex (the glass-ceilinged room at the very top of the pyramid, flooded with natural light from the four glass faces — the meeting room for the religious leaders), the National Museum of Kazakhstan (the permanent collection on the history and ethnography of Kazakhstan), the Shabyt Opera and Ballet Theatre (the 1,500-seat opera house inside the pyramid), and the underground Chamber of Peace (the circular room beneath the pyramid, the most sacred space — the white marble chamber decorated with the 130 national flags of the countries whose religious leaders have attended the Congress).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideBeshbarmak (literally "five fingers" in Kazakh — named for the tradition of eating the dish with the right hand, using all five fingers: the most important national dish of Kazakhstan (and of the wider Turkic and Mongol nomadic tradition): the slow-boiled horse meat (the horse (at (жылқы) — the primary domestic animal of the Kazakh nomad: the Kazakh nomad raised and rode horses and also ate them — the horse meat was the most nutritious food available on the steppe) and/or lamb (qoi (қой)), served over large flat noodle squares (the "shelpek" or "kespe" — the wide flat pasta squares made from flour, egg and water, boiled in the same broth as the meat), the entire dish covered in the hot broth (the "sorpa" — the clear golden broth of the boiled meat: served in a bowl alongside the beshbarmak for drinking) and the wild onion (the "sarymsak" — the thin-sliced raw onion rings scattered over the dish). Served in a large communal dish in the center of the table, from which everyone eats with their right hand.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideNational Museum of Kazakhstan (the museum on the left bank of the Ishim — the largest museum in Central Asia (74,000m² floor space, opened 2014): the most important exhibit: the "Golden Warrior" (the Saka (Scythian) warrior burial (5th–4th century BCE) discovered in the Issyk kurgan (burial mound) in 1969 near Almaty: the warrior's suit of armor consists of over 4,000 individual gold plaques (each one stitched to a leather backing) covering the entire body of the warrior — the most spectacular Saka gold burial in the world (richer even than the gold of the Scythian burials in Ukraine): the Golden Warrior is the national symbol of Kazakhstan (the image appears on the state seal, the currency and the Bayterek Tower)). The museum also contains the most comprehensive ethnographic collection of Kazakh nomadic culture (the yurt (the portable circular tent), the horse equipment, the traditional costume and the musical instruments (the dombra (the two-string lute — the primary instrument of Kazakh music))) and the natural history of the Kazakh steppe.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideAk Orda ("White Residence" — the official residence and primary workplace of the President of Kazakhstan on the Left Bank of the Ishim River: the white marble neoclassical palace (completed 2004) with the distinctive 80m blue-gold cupola (the dome is the primary visual anchor of the Astana Left Bank skyline — visible from everywhere in the planned district): the palace is not open to the public for general visits, but the grand exterior and the immediately surrounding plaza (the Presidential Square — the most formal public space in Astana) are accessible. The Qazaqstan monument (the golden eagle atop a 91m column — the most dramatic monument in Astana) is in the plaza outside the palace gates.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideRight Bank (the old city of Tselinograd/Akmola — the Soviet-era city that preceded the Left Bank development): the historic core of Astana before it became the capital (1830–1997): the Blagoveshchenskaya Cathedral (the Russian Orthodox cathedral of the Annunciation — the oldest significant building in Astana (1900): the blue-domed Russian Orthodox church in the Siberian-Byzantine Revival style that served the predominantly Slavic population of the Soviet-era city), the old bazaar (the Altyn Darya — the covered central bazaar: the most authentic non-tourist market in Astana, where the local Kazakh and Russian residents shop for food, clothing and household goods), and the Atameken Ethnographic Park (the scale model of Kazakhstan — the 1.7-hectare open-air park with 1:100 scale models of the most important archaeological sites, natural wonders and cities of Kazakhstan spread across the lawns).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideKumys (қымыз — the fermented mare's milk: the oldest continuously produced fermented beverage in the world (produced by the nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe for at least 5,000 years, possibly 6,000 years (the earliest chemical evidence of fermented mare's milk dates to 3500 BCE in Kazakhstan)): the slightly fizzy, slightly alcoholic (1–3% ABV — the alcohol results from the concurrent lactic acid and ethanol fermentation by the bacteria and yeasts in the traditional horse-skin bag in which the kumys was churned): the flavor is sour, tangy and slightly effervescent. Shubat (шұбат — the fermented camel's milk: thicker, richer and more sour than kumys, with a higher fat content: the "Kazakh yogurt" of the camel-herding regions of the south). The combination of kumys and beshbarmak is the most historically authentic Kazakh meal experience.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideNur-Astana Mosque ("Nur" = Light in Kazakh — the Great Mosque of Astana: the largest mosque in Central Asia (capacity: 10,000 worshippers simultaneously — the prayer hall (the main hall: 5,000) plus the women's gallery and the outdoor courtyard), built 2005 on the Right Bank: the four minarets (77m each — the height representing 1977, the year in which Kazakhstan was reorganized as a Soviet Republic — a somewhat strained symbolic reference): the interior (the main prayer hall under the 51m central dome — the dome decorated with the 99 names of Allah in gold Arabic calligraphy, the Quranic inscriptions in 14 languages on the walls of the entrance vestibule, and the most elaborate Islamic geometric tilework commissioned for a new building in the post-Soviet space)). The exterior: white marble, contrasting with the golden minarets and the green surrounding parkland.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideHazrat Sultan Mosque (the Supreme Mosque of Astana — the most important and the largest mosque in Kazakhstan (capacity: up to 30,000 worshippers at major festivals: the indoor prayer hall (10,000) + the outdoor covered courtyard (20,000)): opened 2012, designed in the Ottoman-Mamluk tradition with four 130m minarets (the tallest in Central Asia) and a 51m central dome visible from 30km across the flat steppe: the interior dome (the 51m internal dome painted with Kazakh geometric patterns (the "shanyrak" — the circular smoke opening of the traditional Kazakh yurt used as the primary decorative motif on the dome interior) combined with the Arabic calligraphy of Quranic verses)). The most architecturally significant new religious building in Central Asia.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideIshim River promenade (the most developed riverside promenade in Central Asia: the 10km promenade along both banks of the Ishim River (the river that divides Astana into the old Right Bank and the new Left Bank): the promenade has the fountains, the summer cafés (the temporary summer structures that appear on the Astana promenade every May and close in September), the Central Concert Hall (the 3,500-seat Astana Concert Hall — the primary venue for classical music in Kazakhstan), and the EXPO 2017 site (the World Expo held in Astana in June–September 2017, the theme "Future Energy" — the only World Expo held in Central Asia: the EXPO site is now the EXPO Center (the international conference center in the EXPO sphere (the 100m diameter spherical building, the most distinctive Expo structure)) with the Nur Alem (the "Bright World") museum inside the sphere.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideKazy (қазы — the most important Kazakh traditional food product: the horse sausage made from the rib fat of the horse (the rib meat and the thick fat layer (the "zhaya") from the ribs of the horse stuffed into the horse intestine and smoked (or dried) for 2–4 days): the flavor is rich, smoky and intensely savory — the most prized cold cut of the Kazakh table (served at all important celebrations alongside the beshbarmak). Samsa (самса — the Kazakh (and broader Central Asian) baked triangular pastry (the Kazakh cousin of the Indian samosa and the Russian pirogi): the unleavened dough stuffed with spiced lamb and onion (the classic filling), baked in a tandoor (the clay oven) until the outside is golden and crispy and the interior is full of meat juices).
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