From Guinness World Records to ancient ruins: eight facts about Kazakhstan’s cities

1. Astana: A giant tent with a Guinness World Record

A tropical beach might be the last thing visitors expect to find in a city known for its freezing winters. Yet Astana has one, tucked inside a giant tent-shaped building.

Standing 150 meters tall, Khan Shatyr holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s tallest tensile structure. Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the entertainment center opened in July 2010.

Its transparent, climate-controlled enclosure spans more than 100,000 square meters, housing shops, restaurants and entertainment facilities, including an indoor beach where visitors can escape the cold without leaving the capital.

2. Almaty: A UNESCO City of Music with a record-breaking ice rink

Almaty has earned international recognition in two seemingly unrelated fields: music and winter sports.

In 2017, it joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Music, recognizing the role of music in the city’s cultural life.

Meanwhile, high in the mountains, the Medeu skating rink has witnessed hundreds of world speed skating records. Situated 1,691 meters above sea level, the venue has long been associated with international skating achievements.

On January 18, 2014, Medeu added another distinction when 523 people participated in a skating lesson that earned a Guinness World Record for the largest ice skating lesson.

3. Aktau: The city that used nuclear power to produce drinking water

Nuclear energy is usually associated with electricity generation. But in Aktau, on the Caspian Sea, it once served another purpose: producing fresh water.

The city’s BN-350 nuclear reactor began commercial operation in 1973, supplying electricity and supporting a desalination system that converted seawater into drinking water.

According to the World Nuclear Association, the facility produced up to 80,000 cubic meters of potable water per day, demonstrating the potential of nuclear technology to address water shortages.

The reactor was permanently shut down in April 1999, ending a distinctive chapter in the history of nuclear-powered desalination.

4. Turkestan: A UNESCO masterpiece left unfinished for more than 600 years

Some of the world’s most remarkable monuments were never completed. The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi in Turkestan is one of them.

Construction began in 1389 under Timur, also known as Tamerlane, who commissioned the monumental complex in honor of the 12th-century Sufi teacher and poet.

But work stopped following Timur’s death in 1405, leaving the main entrance and parts of the interior unfinished.

Rather than diminishing its historical value, those incomplete sections have provided researchers with evidence of medieval building techniques.

According to UNESCO, architectural innovations developed during its construction later influenced major buildings in Samarkand. The mausoleum was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2003.

5. Taraz: An ancient city hidden beneath a modern market

For years, shoppers at Taraz’s central market walked above the remains of an ancient city.

Archaeological excavations beneath the market site uncovered parts of the historic citadel, once home to the city’s rulers and other prominent figures.

Further discoveries revealed stone-paved streets, public baths, ceramic water pipes and evidence of coin production.

These findings offered a glimpse into a sophisticated medieval urban settlement, complete with infrastructure that had remained hidden beneath the modern city.

6. Shymkent: A 2,200-year-old city recognized by UNESCO

Modern Shymkent stands on layers of history stretching back more than two millennia.

Archaeological excavations in its historic center uncovered evidence of an ancient settlement, leading researchers to establish an estimated age of at least 2,200 years.

The discovery gained international recognition in 2019, when UNESCO’s General Conference included Shymkent’s 2,200th anniversary in its calendar of commemorations for 2020-2021.

Today, the Shym Qala historical complex preserves and presents parts of the ancient settlement within the modern city, offering a glimpse into urban life long before the rise of contemporary Kazakhstan.

7. Karaganda: A museum 15 meters underground

While most museums display industrial history in exhibition halls, one in Karaganda takes visitors beneath the surface.

Located at the Karaganda Mining and Industrial College, the museum occupies a training mine approximately 15 meters underground.

Its tunnels feature mining equipment, conveyor systems, mine carts and reinforced passages that recreate the environment in which coal miners work.

The unusual exhibition offers visitors a closer look at the industry that shaped Karaganda’s development into one of Kazakhstan's major industrial cities.

8. Semey: A city of writers, poets and philosophers

Few cities in Kazakhstan have such a rich literary heritage as Semey, formerly known as Semipalatinsk. Over the centuries, the city has been associated with some of the most influential figures in Kazakh and Russian literature.

Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky lived here from 1854 to 1859 following his imprisonment in Siberia. A house where he once stayed has been preserved as part of a literary memorial museum.

Semey also played an important role in the life of Abai Kunanbaiuly, the renowned Kazakh poet and philosopher who studied in the city. Other prominent figures connected to its literary history include Shakarim Kudaiberdiuly, a Kazakh poet and thinker, and Mukhtar Auezov, whose celebrated novel The Path of Abai introduced generations of readers to Abai’s life and legacy.

Together, these figures have made Semey an important center of Kazakhstan’s literary and intellectual heritage.

Earlier, Qazinform News Agency highlighted seven fascinating facts about Astana that may surprise first-time visitors.