URALSK
Uralsk is the only city in Kazakhstan located entirely in Europe. But its uniqueness extends beyond its geography. Yemelyan Pugachev’s rebellion began here, and Alexander Pushkin himself came here in search of historical truth. Uralsk is the only Kazakh city he visited. The poet Gabdulla Tukay lived here, Mikhail Sholokhov and Leo Tolstoy visited here, the voice of the young Feodor Chaliapin was heard, and Vladimir Dal collected material for his dictionary.
Recommended attractions:
The Regional Museum of History and Local Lore was founded in 1836, making it one of the oldest museums in the Republic. The idea for the museum came from M.K. Kurilin, a teacher at the Ural Military School, and the opening took place with the direct support of the renowned explorer G.S. Karelin. The building housing the museum is itself an architectural monument dating back to 1897.
The Cathedral of Christ the Savior is a 19th-century architectural monument, built between 1891 and 1907 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Ural Cossack Host’s service to Russia. Tsarevich Nicholas II, returning to St. Petersburg from the East, was present at the laying of the foundation stone. During Soviet times, the cathedral housed a museum of atheism, and a planetarium was housed under one of the domes.
The Vanyushin Merchants’ House is one of the most beautiful mansions in the city. The building, constructed in the 1870s, is rightfully considered an architectural and historical monument. It housed the opulent Commercial Club, which hosted evenings, concerts, and lectures for merchants and clerks of the first and second classes. During the Soviet period, the building housed the Communist Club.
The Zhaiyk settlement is a medieval settlement discovered by archaeologists 12 km from Uralsk in 2001. The settlement existed in the 13th and 14th centuries, when the territory of western Kazakhstan was part of the Golden Horde. Archaeologists believe that Zhaiyk is the ancestor of modern Uralsk. The city included residential estates, industrial buildings, and public spaces.
The Kyryk-Oba necropolis, also known as the Steppe Pyramids, is a royal necropolis from the Sauromatian period (7th-4th centuries BC). They are of interest to archaeologists from around the world as they are the tallest archaeological burial mounds surviving to this day. Kyryk-Oba is not a single, isolated burial mound, but a complex comprising approximately 40.
The Khan’s Grove is a natural forest park area in Uralsk, located at the confluence of the Ural and Chagan rivers. The first ceremony of elevation to the khan’s dignity and oath of allegiance to the Russian state was held in the grove in 1812 for Khan Bukey.
We also recommend visiting: the A.S. Pushkin Monument, the Museum of Nature and Ecology, the Manshuk Mametova Museum, the Red Mosque, the Prison Castle, and the Old Uralsk Museum