Astana - the eighth wonder of the world of Kazakhstan

Astana, the young capital of independent Republic of KazakhstanIt is known to many as the former Tselinograd and Akmola. Astana in translation from the Kazakh language means the capital, but its originality lies not in the name, which, in fact, is difficult to argue, namely in it itself.

Capital City Republic of Kazakhstan It is located in the middle of the great and boundless Kazakh steppe, despite the harsh continental climate, where in summer it can be + 40 ° C, and in winter - 40 ° C.

Capital Kazakhstan consists of 2 parts, symbolically separated by the river Ishim; on the right bank Khrushchev and other buildings were founded, their roots go deep into the not so distant for many, but still the past of the times of the USSR.

And on the left bank of the Ishim River, just the rebuilt city, now called Astana, is located from scratch.

It is hard to imagine that some 20 years ago in its place there were only moors and swamps. It's really hard to believe, but just look. The good five-storey buildings and Khrushchev buildings were replaced by skyscrapers, instead of Sovdep monotony – color and design, and the national yurt grew to the scale of the largest tent in the world.

And it is not at all surprising to the perception of a simple layman is the fact that the master plan of the capital was developed not by Kazakh architects, but mainly by foreign ones, using modern advanced ideas.

One of these architects was the famous Japanese architect Kise Kurosawa, his main creation is the Palace of the President of Ak-Orda. If you transfer $ 100 in tenge, you will be pleasantly surprised not only by the fact that you will get 31980 tenge for them, but also by the fact that on the banknote with a denomination of 10 thousand tenge, you can see the Residence of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Ak-Orda.

On the banknote of 10 thousand tenge you can see the similarity of Ak-Orda with the building depicted on the banknote of 50 $. But it is deceptive, because the main structure of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the tenge rate in Kazakhstan, are quite different from the Washington Capitol.

Thanks to the English architect Norman Foster, Astana now boasts the world’s largest tent, whose name is Khan Shatyr. Under the huge heat-resistant dome of Khan Shatyr, on an area of 127 thousand square meters, there is a shopping center with all kinds of goods for every taste, and, of course, souvenirs.

But the most striking and popular attraction of Khan Shatyr is undoubtedly a year-round water park, where you can swim and sunbathe on the sand brought from the Maldives. At least that’s what the owners say. And it is no worse than the domestic sand. But in the Khan Shatyr water park, small things fade into the background, and it becomes irrelevant from which country the sand was brought, seeping through your fingers like time.

It is especially pleasant when the street is -30°C, and inside the water park under the dome of Khan Shatyr, warm, sunny and year-round +35°C. There are other outlandish buildings in Astana, the author of which is Norman Foster.

One of the most striking after Khan Shatyr is, of course, the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation – a pyramid building created for just one event – the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. Today, this building is called the main attraction of Astana and even the eighth wonder of the world, along with the Egyptian pyramids and the Eiffel Tower. And indeed, the contemplation of architecture, built for $ 30 million, can not but cause delight!

Admiring the bizarre forms of the Palace of Peace and Accord, you can experience not only a sense of admiration in the face of human ingenuity, but also a sense of wonder. Unfortunately, since the opening of the Palace in 2006, the Congress has not taken place.

But the main attraction of Astana was the exhibition EXPO-2017, thanks to which the capital of Kazakhstan became famous among the expanses of the CIS countries and around the world. You bet! It took $1 billion to build it. $300 million.

For the sake of this event, a huge exhibition complex was built, in the center of which is a giant sphere - the Museum of the Future. And all the homeless were taken out of the city, evenly distributed to the nearest, but not too close to the capital cities. But since everything goes back to its origins, and in most cases a person reaches for his homeland, the expelled people began to come back, which later formed the basis of the unofficial tale of the great migration of the homeless.

Astana. It sounds as beautiful as it actually looks. And involuntarily comes to mind another Kazakh word, Askhana, which means dining room. But such a comparison is by no means banal, but makes quite a lot of sense. After all, from the point of view of architecture, Astana is really quite rich and diverse city. And for the connoisseur of beauty, as such in general, there is something to see.

What to say, the names in the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan are “delicious” and pleasant to hear: Abu Dhabi Plaza, Nur-Astana, Emerald Quarter... Like Alice in Wonderland or The Wizard of the Emerald City. But no, it's Astana! And the Emerald Quarter is a complex of three high-rise buildings of different storeys, among which the tallest building is not only in Astana, but also in the whole of Kazakhstan - 53 floors (201 meters).

But the Abu Dhabi Plaza project, currently under construction, promises to overtake its current emerald leader. The multifunctional complex of several buildings will consist of 75 floors and at its highest point of 382 meters – reach the sky!

Astana is out of crisis. Astana is a paradise at any time of the year. And whatever you look at it, it's always like it's just off the cover.

If you see Astana from a bird’s eye view, it seems that it was built not on the site of former swamps, but on a large and dense sea of oil, from which fabulous buildings grew as if on the best fertilizers in an instant.

In Astana, the first thing to visit is the Boulevard Nur-Zhol, on which the main architectural wonders of the capital are concentrated, namely: Khan-Shatyr, Singing Fountain, Ak-Orda and Baiterek Tower. And the moment you walk down the boulevard of Nur-Jol, the words from the song of the group "Dancing minus" will involuntarily come to mind: "Fairytale city! Dream city!".