Museums and history of Almaty: a day to understand the city

Almaty is a young city with a long prehistory: the Verny fort was founded in 1854, but people lived here in Saka times and on the Silk Road. In one day you can walk from burial mounds to Soviet modernism, all on foot in the centre.

Morning: the main museums

The Central State Museum is the start: Saka burial mounds, the Golden Man in ceremonial dress, a yurt, the twentieth century. Two hours, with an audio guide. Then the Kasteyev Museum of Arts, the country's largest art collection: twentieth-century Kazakh painting, applied art, carpets and jewellery. An hour and a half.

Midday: the city of Verny

The Museum of Almaty tells the story of the city itself: earthquakes, apple orchards, renamings. An hour. From here walk to Panfilov Park and Ascension Cathedral: the wooden building of 1907 by the architect Zenkov survived the 1911 earthquake that flattened almost all of Verny. Inside is a restored iconostasis.

Ten minutes away is the Central Mosque with its turquoise dome, built in the 1990s. Visitors are welcome outside prayer times; women cover their hair and everyone removes their shoes.

Soviet modernism

A walk along Dostyk Avenue and Abay Square is an open-air museum: the Palace of the Republic, the Kazakhstan Hotel with its “crown”, the Palace of Schoolchildren. They are lit up in the evening.

Evening: the opera

The Abay Opera and Ballet Theatre is a 1941 building with painted foyers. Performances start at 18:30 or 19:00; the repertoire runs from “Abai” to the classics, tickets are inexpensive, and it is best to buy online in advance.

How long to allow

• Three museums take four and a half hours, with lunch between the second and third.
• Museums close at 18:00 and most are shut on Mondays.
• The route on a map: “Culture and history”.