ASTANA

TRIP DETAILS

Price: Subject to Size of Party

Trip Length: 2 Days

Trip Origin: Astana

Dates: March – November

Group: Individuals + Groups

Difficulty: All Ages

MULTI-DAY TRIPS

GUIDED TOUR OF ASTANA

Astana became the capital city of Kazakhstan in 1997, and since then has developed economically into one of the most modernized cities in Central Asia. It is located on the banks of the Ishim River in the north portion of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, and is the second largest city in Kazakhstan behind Alamaty.

Modern Astana is a planned city, like Brasília in Brazil, Canberra in Australia, Washington, D.C. in the United States and other planned capitals. After Astana became the capital of Kazakhstan, the city cardinally changed its shape. The master plan of Astana was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa. As the seat of the Government of Kazakhstan, Astana is the site of the Parliament House, the Supreme Court, the Ak Orda Presidential Palace and numerous government departments and agencies. It is home to many futuristic buildings, hotels and skyscrapers. Astana also has extensive healthcare, sports and education systems.

Today, the city is an important industrial and cultural center of the republic, and also a railway and motor transportation hub. The industry of the city is known for agro-industrial mechanical engineering, the food industry, and processing of agricultural materials. Tourism in Astana is the most important development of the 20th century in Kazakhstan.

  • Became capital of Kazakhstan in 1997
  • Second largest city
  • Important industrial and cultural center
  • Tourism is new, yet important industry

Day 1

Excursion around the city

Visit the 80 m (263 ft) Baiterek Tower, the symbol of Kazakhstan. The monument embodies the philosophical, political and historical significance of the independence of Kazakhstan. Then to the Duman Entertainment Complex with the upper level Oceanarium, an all new concept in the entertainment industry. The Presidential Cultureral Center — an impressive research and cultural-educational complex. The museum has unique ethnographic displays of spiritual and material culture that reflect the history of the Republic of Kazakhstan from ancient times.

We also visit the Orthodox Church, the Mosque of Astana, the ethno-memorial complex Atameken, which is an open-air museum showing the ethnic and religious diversity of the republic. The museum includes an outdoor map covering an area of 1.7 hectares (4.2 acres) containing major attractions of regions and cities of Kazakhstan, from historical and architectural to landscape features (mountains, lakes, etc.), and the largest modern industrial facilities. Walking on the paths of the map that represent the main vehicle and railroad routes of the country, you’ll be able to see the most interesting objects of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

  • Visit Baiterek Tower & many other attractions
  • Learn cultural, historical, industrial history
  • Walk the outdoor map of Atameken

Day 2

Tour Akmolinsky Camp

Visit Akmolinsky Camp of wives and traitors of the Homeland. Algier – the colloquial name of the 17th women’s camp and special office of the Karaganda ITL in the Akmolinsky area from 1938–1953. It was the largest Soviet women’s camp, one of three “islands” or “Archipelago Gulag”. The name is an acronym for the name of the camp created by members of families of persons considered to be traitors of the Homeland by the operational order of People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the USSR. There was also a colloquial name for the camp office – “the 26th point” – as the camp was settled in the 26th settlement of work houses.

The museum and memorial complex shares the memory of the victims of political repressions and totalitarianism, was opened on May 31, 2007  at the initiative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, N.A. Nazarbayev. The opening of the museum was on the 10th anniversary of the date of adoption in 1997 of the decree “About Establishment of a Day of Memory of the Victims of Political Repressions” – as May 31st was the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the political repressions.

  • Visit Akimolinsky Camp
  • Largest Soviet women’s camp
  • Once housed traitors of the Homeland
  • Opened May 31, 2007

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