Low Cost Hotels in Almaty ➤ Best Prices Guaranteed!

The "City of Apples," Kazakhstan's capital of Almaty -- a.k.a. Alma-Ata, from 1922-1991 -- is a thoroughly Russian city, from its foundation back in 1854, as an imperial frontier outpost, to its decidedly orderly Soviet-style architecture and street plan. Situated near the Kyrgyzstan border at the foot of the Tian Shan ("the mountains of heaven"), a magnificent range connected with the Himalayas, Almaty is a popular destination for skiers, climbers and other mountain sports enthusiasts. Almaty is also renowned for its orchards, and it is indeed a city of trees, with wide boulevards lined with leafy guardians. It's a big city, sprawling out over some 12.5 miles. Populated by about 1.5 million residents (Kazakhstan's total population is around 16 million), most of whom speak Russian, Almaty's growth has been exponential in this century, especially after the Turk-Sib Railway was completed in 1930. That event catapulted the population from 46,000 in 1926 to more than 220,000 in 1939. Unlike many cities in Central Asia, Almaty itself does not have a long history. It has the look of a new city, at least in part thanks to a pair of earthquakes which twice leveled it -- first in 1887 and again in 1911, leaving little standing. The city was originally known as Verny, though its name was changed to Alma-Ata in 1921, then shortened to Almaty after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. But the city's site has a smoother history -- an early Silk Road oasis, Almatu, destroyed by the Mongols, once stood in the area where Almaty was founded. Today's Almatyreflects some of its trading roots. As a modern city seen as a crossroads between East and West, it bustles with trading consortiums and businesses seeking to bridge the continentalgap. The city also boasts several important museums, including the State Museum of the Arts, which showcases Kazak artworks, and the Museum of Kazak Musical Instruments,featuring harmoniously exhibited displays of traditional music-makers such as bagpipes, the three-stringed "kobiz," and wooden harps.