Holy Kazan Cathedral

Built 1893-95 after its predecessor was destroyed by an earthquake, the church became the centrepiece of a monastery, but the complex was crushed by the communists. Only in 2007 were both restored. The tranquil monastery compound has a few other chapels you can look in on.

Grand mosque with marble walls and spacious decorated interior.

Small museum with fine traditional wooden facade, exhibits have signage in Kazakh, Russian and English.

Military history museum with an emphasis on Panfilov's division and Kazakhstan's involvement in the Great Patriotic War (WWII) and the Soviet War in Afghanistan. Signage is in Russian, but guided tours in English, French, Kazakh and Russian may be available. The entrance is unstaffed, turn right from lobby.

Honors the men and women from Kazakhstan who died in World War II. There's an eternal flame by the war memorial.

Completed in 1907 and renovated in the 2020s - new saints were painted in, though presumably they were known to the hagiographers. The iconostasis is spectacular. At 56 m this among the tallest wooden buildings in the world, which you wouldn't guess from the smoothly-painted exterior hues of custard, icing sugar and coloured marzipan - it's more like a trap for Hansel & Gretel.