Pictures from Astana

We visited Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, a couple of Fridays ago. It has some futuristic architecture. Here are a few pictures:

The gas company building has a large arch beneath it, something, we are told, like l’arche de la Defense in Paris, if you know it:

Next is an intriguing egg-shaped building in front of two wavy office buildings in behind. The waviness is not caused by a bad camera lens:

The Baiterek Tower. You can go up into the ball (or egg) 97 metres above ground. There is a Kazakh legend about a “Baiterek”. It is an ancient tree of life. Its roots are in the subterranean world, the trunk in the earthly world, and the crown in the heavens. Every year a sacred bird, Samruk, lays a golden egg in the crown. Every year it is consumed by a dragon, Aidakhar, which lived at the base of the tree. This is representative of the cycle of life, of summer and winter, and of rebirth: 

Two elderly Kazakh ladies in traditional dress accompanied by their granddaughter outside the Baiterek Tower. They went to the top of the tower to place their hands in the President’s handprint impressed into a piece of gold there. See our earlier post called “Hands on in the Baiterek Tower for more information about that:

A view from inside the tower towards the Presidential Palace at the end of the Water and Green Park. The shiny gold buildings on either side are office towers. Curving out from them on either side are two government of Kazakhstan office buildings. Combined, they give the impression of an eagle, one of the symbols of Kazakhstan:

A closeup view of one of the golden office towers:

 

Below is an intriguing mix of architectures. There is the glass of a Western-style building mixing with the light stone block and domes of an Eastern-style building.

The Nur Astana Mosque provides space for 5000 worshippers. The main dome rises to 43 metres. It is surrounded by 25 smaller domes. The four minarets are 62 metres tall. Its construction was funded by the Emir of Qatar: