Kazakhstan

The Zharkent mosque is a grandiose building of the 19th century; its architecture combines the motives of Central Asian and Chinese architecture. The main building material for the construction of the temple was wood - logs of the Tien Shan spruce, which were delivered to Zharkent from the Aksu and Ketmen mountains. This structure is already over 120 years old (the museum itself claims that mosques are 130 years old, if you keep a record from the beginning of construction, that is, from 1887), but it still causes surprise for all people who see it for the first time.

In the picturesque park of 28 guards - Panfilov of the city of Almaty, there is a unique architectural monument - the Zenkov Cathedral (Ascension Cathedral). This historical monument is considered one of the main attractions of the city. The initiators of the construction of the temple were the bishops of Turkestan and Tashkent at the very beginning of the 19th century. The best engineers and architects took over the project. In 1903, the project was approved and from 1904 to 1907 the construction of the cathedral continued.

Aksu-Zhabagly is a place where you can truly experience the wild nature of the Tien Shan. The reserve is located in southern Kazakhstan, near the border with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and is considered the first of its kind in Central Asia—it was founded in 1926 and is now listed as a UNESCO biosphere reserve unesco.org.

Lake Tuzkol is one of the many alpine lakes in Kazakhstan, located in the Almaty region. Lake Tuzkol (Salt Lake), so salty that mineralization is behind only to the Dead Sea in Israel and the Great Salt Lake in the United States. The lake is located at an altitude of 1959 m. In a closed drainage hollow between the mountains Elshyn Buyryk and Karatau in the north and Zhabyrtau in the south. These mountains belong to one of the ridges of the Northern Tien Shan - Ketmen (Uzynkara). It is fed by the waters of springs flowing down from the surrounding slopes.

Kaindy Lake is located on the northern slope of the Kungei Ala-Too mountain range at an altitude of 1867 meters above sea level among a dense coniferous forest, which culminates at 2900 m. alt.. The top of the valley rises to nearly 3400 meters and marks the border with Kyrgyzstan. The bottom of the valley joins the village of Saty. Kaindy Lake lies in the second valley further east than the first lake Kolsay. The length of the lake is about 440 meters, by 110 meters wide , the greatest depth of the lake is 30 meters. 

The Bartogai reservoir was artificially created in the 1980s in the floodplain of the Chilik River, for the needs of agriculture and irrigation of fields. The height of the rock-fill dam is 60 meters, the length of 330 meters, the channel length is 160 meters. A place stunning with its beauty and picturesqueness with a powerful spillway from under the dam from a height of 25 meters. A stream of water with enormous pressure is released to freedom and is broken up into tiny particles of spray, which overflows and forms many rainbows.

Assy Plateau is a beautiful corner of nature, located 100 km east of Almaty. Assy Plateau, known since ancient times as a summer pasture, originates from the Kishi-Turgen River. The plateau is located at an altitude of 2800-3200 meters. Here Signs of a person’s being more than 5,000 years old, both nomadic and sedentary, were discovered. Plateau Assy goes east along the river Assy. Along the river you can see ancient burial mounds and rock carvings, which are one of the most high-altitude clusters of petroglyphs in the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan.