Several cities around the world have reinvented themselves in recent years, but none have had more success than Almaty.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan’s largest city (population 2.2 million and growing) has evolved from a boring, mundane Soviet metropolis into the urban star of Central Asia.
Along the way, the city has developed one of the most beautiful metro systems in the world, become a thriving banking and financial center, supplemented its vintage bazaars with luxury boutiques and modern shopping centers, and transformed its traditional gastronomy into a nouvelle cuisine that draws raves from gourmets all over the world. world.
Almaty is also evolving into the cultural and artistic center of Central Asia. It already has several world-class museums (including a ‘secret’ underground collection that doesn’t even have a name) and a dazzling new cultural center opening early next year.
“It’s an incredibly livable city,” says Dennis Keen, a longtime American resident, historic preservation advocate and founder of Walking Almaty.
“Green and clean. You don’t need a car. The public transport here is fantastic. And it is very much the center of contemporary art and dining in Central Asia.”
Keen adds that whenever he tells someone at home that he lives in Kazakhstan, ‘Borat’ inevitably comes up. The film’s title character does not paint a very flattering portrait of the Central Asian nation. But nowadays you are inclined to think that if Borat were to visit Almaty now, he would say: “Very nice!”
A checkered history
Although people have lived in the region for thousands of years, most were nomads who roamed the vast steppes between China and Europe. In the Middle Ages, an ancient city flourished nearby – a way station on the Silk Road – but had disappeared by the time the Russian Empire conquered the region in the mid-19th century.
A fortress established by Tsarist forces to reinforce the Russian occupation, it developed into a small town with a grid system of north-south and east-west streets and an abundance of trees. The Russians also built the ornate, onion-domed Assumption Cathedral, one of the city’s architectural icons. Otherwise, there are few remains of the Tsarist era today.
A few years after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, the national capital was moved to Astana. The loss of that respected status was a wake-up call for the city. Instead of sulking over the criticism, Almaty’s leaders and residents found common ground to reinvent the city, if only to prove that the city was still superior to Astana.
“It is now a city of entrepreneurs and artists,” says Jama Nurkalieva, director of the new Tselinny Center of Contemporary Culture. She thinks the relocation of the national capital has freed Almaty to do its own thing.
“This freedom brought here this unique spirit of creativity, possibility, reflection and debate. No wonder we have the largest artistic scene in the region and a megalopolis economy. So many companies, large and small. This is the place where many creative people need to be, and not just artists.”
Channeling your inner nomad
Chefs have also taken up the challenge of creating something completely new with roots in Kazakhstan’s past. They call it neo-nomadic cuisine, a fusion of modern cooking techniques and presentation with heritage ingredients used by the nomads who continue to inhabit the grasslands around Almaty.
“We find inspiration in traditional nomadic techniques such as smoking or cooking meat over an open fire or burying the meat and cooking it on hot stones,” says Sat Nurash, general manager of the city’s chic Auyl Restaurant.
But that’s where the similarities end. Marinated with special herbs and spices, and cooked slowly over low heat, the meat served as the main course takes two days to prepare. Portions are small and each plate is a small work of art.
Dishes on Auyl’s seven-course tasting menu include: Dungan noodles with spicy duck, horse meat samosas, beshbarmak with smoked brisket and lamb shank, cold chalop (sour horse milk) soup and lamb tongues with pomegranate.
Other purveyors of neo-nomadic cuisine include Tör Restaurant in the Glass Cube on Esentai Square and Tarih Restaurant near Dynamo Stadium. Meanwhile, Auyl is also drawing rave reviews for its yurt-inspired design, chosen as one of 16 finalists in the Prix Versailles World’s Most Beautiful Restaurants competition.
Yet not everything is 21st century. The colossal Zeleny Bazaar (Green Market), founded in 1868, is filled with stalls selling delicious fresh fruits, Kurt (sour cheese balls), shubat (camel milk) and other local delicacies. There is a whole section for different types of horse meat, including surprisingly tasty sausages.
Those looking for a more in-depth nomadic experience can find it just outside Almaty.
In the snow-capped Tien Shan Mountains east of the city, Kolsai Lakes National Park offers yurt accommodation in private camps near Lower Kolsai Lake and horseback riding with nomad guides to remote Kaindy Lake and its eerie haunted forest.
Over and underground art
The eclectic Abilkhan Kasteev State Art Museum, crowned by the Louvre-like glass pyramid, is the premier display of Kazakh creations, from paintings and sculptures to decorative arts such as carpets, jewelry and woodwork.
Other good collections include the Ihlas Museum of Folk Musical Instruments (in a 1908 Russian-style wooden mansion) and the ethnographic artifacts of the Almaty Museum.
The city’s most intriguing collection is a ‘secret museum’ that doesn’t even have a formal name. What adds to the mystique is the fact that it is both literally and figuratively underground: located in the basement of the French House, a luxury shopping arcade on Furmanov Avenue fronted by a replica of the Eiffel Tower.
The owner of the private collection is also a mystery: he is said to be a local oligarch who is both an avid collector and intensely proud of his birthplace. There is no entrance fee, but reservations are required. And to get a ticket, you need to know someone with the closely guarded phone number or email address to make that reservation. A local guide (who also wishes to remain anonymous) calls it “Kazakhstan’s most important collection of indigenous art and artifacts.”
Dozens of rooms display an astonishing range of items, from ancient torture devices, medieval (male) chastity belts and nomad fashion to early radios and televisions, Soviet-era posters and mementos of cosmonauts. There are also rooms with Islamic, Christian, Jewish and Buddhist artifacts that originated in Kazakhstan. The museum manager follows you the entire time and makes sure you don’t take photos or touch anything.
The soon-to-open Tselinny Center for Contemporary Culture is also funded by a local entrepreneur and businessman who doesn’t mind his name being common knowledge (Kairat Boranbayev) and wants everyone to visit an institution he considers the best of its kind. in Central Asia.
The center is housed in a restored Soviet-era Tselinny Cinema, a postmodern glass-fronted building from 1964. It hosts a wide range of contemporary music, dance, film, visual arts and theater, as well as research projects, education and publications .
“Our artistic strategy is based on the symbiosis between two motifs that we call Here And Now” says Jama Nurkalieva.
“This is a physical space where different formats or events take place. Now draws on the research projects taking place currently and continuously in the future to create an intellectual space enhanced by collaboration with artists, theorists and intellectuals from different disciplinary, cultural, social and ideological perspectives. Now serves as a tool for the realization of the Here programming.”
The city’s public spaces are also home to a wide range of art. The Almaty Metro is known for its elaborately decorated stations, especially Zhibek Zholy with its Wonders of the Ancient World mosaic, the colorful stained glass apple tree in Almaly and the traditional Kazakh wedding scene in Auezov.
American resident Keen has spent much of the past decade uncovering and preserving much of the Soviet-era public art that has been neglected — and in many cases painted or plastered over — since independence.
One of its walking tours shows masterpieces of socialist modernist architecture, such as the Arasan Bathhouse, the Spa and Wellness Center, as well as the reliefs and murals of Hotel Otrar, and the mosaics and stained glass windows of the Academy of Sciences.
“Some of this architecture and art is off the beaten path,” says Keen, “in a city that many people already consider off the beaten path. But it is one of the things that makes Almaty special.”
How do you get there?
Turkish Airlines flies non-stop between Almaty and Istanbul two to three times a day, with connections to several European, African and Middle Eastern cities.
Air Astana offers domestic flights to numerous cities in Kazakhstan, plus daily flights to Beijing, Seoul, New Delhi and Bangkok.
Where to sleep
Located on the top floors of a 30-story skyscraper in the Esentai Mall, the Ritz-Carlton Almaty offers modern luxury and breathtaking city views.
Within walking distance of the Ascension Cathedral, the Green Market and the Arasan Baths, Renion Park Hotel offers mid-range comfort and service at bargain prices.
Or time travel back to Soviet times at the centrally located Hotel Otrar with its vintage architecture and mural-covered dining room.
Where to eat
Restaurant Auyl in the Medeu Valley south of the city is known for its cutting-edge neo-nomadic cuisine and is also a feast for the eyes in terms of design.
Lanzhou’s seven branches, a noodle house and the luxurious Sandyq Restaurant next to the Novotel City Center are popular places for traditional Kazakh cuisine.
Almaty also offers food from the former Soviet empire, such as the Georgian kachapuri at Darejani restaurant or the borscht, beef cheeks and other Russian delicacies at Mar’ina Roshcha, both near the southwest corner of Ascension Cathedral park.
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