Holy Sultan Mosque; Kazakh: Әзірет Сұлтан мешіті
Photo: Jirka Dl, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Completed in 2012, it's the largest mosque in Kazakhstan and the second largest in Central Asia. A vast calm soaring space, can accommodate up to 10,000 worshippers.
The Hazrat Sultan Mosque is a Friday mosque in Astana, Kazakhstan.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
"Шабыт" шығармашылық сарайы
Shabyt is a palace of arts situated to the right of Kazakh Eli monument. It is a dish like building made from glass.
Many political and business gatherings are held in this palace. The summit of the OSCE (Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe) took place in December 2010 in this building; 56 countries were invited and it was one of the largest gatherings of Heads of State (bigger than Washington Nuclear Summit). Summits concerning ecology were held in October 2010 and 2011.
Стелла "Қазақ елі"
It's next to Pyramid (Palace of Peace) and has a small statue of the first president of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is about 100 metres tall and has a mythical golden bird Samryk on the top. Monument is made from white marble and surrounded by very beautiful fountains.
Бейбітшілік пен келісім сарайы
Completed in 2006 after a design by British architect Norman Foster, and also known as the "pyramid". The pyramid portion of the building is 62 m high and sits on a 15-m-high earth-covered block. All of this construction is above ground level. The building holds a summit of all religions of the world every 2–3 years. Though the landscaping of the park rises up to cover the lower levels, these are not in fact basements. This building offers a great view of the city, two art galleries, an archaeological and ethnographic museum, opera hall, and a cafe.
Қазақстан Республикасының Ұлттық музейі
The national museum moved to this location in 2014. The museum is huge and very modern with interactive displays in English, Russian and Kazakh. Popular with tour groups but it's big enough to absorb them. The displays take you through the history of Kazakhstan up to the modern day. It also hosts an art gallery with many temporary exhibitions. The main entrance hall is huge with a golden eagle that flaps its wings to patriotic music at certain times in the day. One of the highlights is on the ground floor where an animated diorama of the planned Nur-Sultan emerges out of the floor on the hour, be sure to get there early as it can get crowded. The golden hall display has a model of the golden man costume along with a range of other beautiful golden objects found around Kazakhstan. Don't miss Nazabayev's rough sketches for the presidential palace and Baiterek.
The most interesting feature is the phoenix-shaped pond (its shape is only visible from above), where the phoenix is flying towards the Pyramid.