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I Visited Nur-Sultan, One Of The Coldest Capitals In The World, And Captured Its Stunning Architecture In -20°C
Nur-Sultan, former Astana, is the capital city of Kazakhstan - the 9th largest country in the world. It's also the 2nd coldest capital of the world, where winter temperatures reach regularly less than -35 Celsius degrees.
Its futuristic architecture is mind-blowing. I've been walking around the city on a foggy night. On the other day, my flight back to Poland was canceled due to adverse weather conditions and I got another chance to admire the cosmic, surreal cityscapes of Astana. The temperature was about -20 Celsius and my hands were just freezing.
Strange, but beautiful buildings, including for example lighter-shaped tower, flame-like skyscrapers, enormous stunning mosque and huge palaces, all covered with dense fog and hoarfrost, made me feel like in a fairytale. A futuristic and a bit apocalyptic fairytale.
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it looks like eagle wings but there gold and bend back a lot farther
it looks little bit haunted from the top while your going down
Absolutely stunning city. The modern architecture is inspirational, and love that the older structures are still there, too. The photographer did an outstanding job, playing up all the outstanding features. Wonderful article! Many thanks!
thank you, Debra! So nice to hear that! I tried my best to catch the original atmosphere of the city :) What's more - Astana is a modern city. The "old part" is a district of workers from Soviet times and it's not possible to find older than XX century buildings. The architects did a great job to build new ones looking like the ones from deep past :)
Load More Replies...Been there and was blown away by the architecture. Absolutely did not expect to see such modernism and radical buildings like that in Central Asia. Really great photos you have there! Nice work!
Thank you! So nice to hear. And I agree - Astana is spectacular.
Load More Replies..."Photo album of the year 2359" Absolutely breathtaking scenery and compositions!
Thank you Troux! So nice to read! Indeed - Astana is uncommonly futuristic city.
Load More Replies...Thank you, Aliya! Hope the real winters will return to us. The ones we know from the stories and fairy tales :(
Load More Replies...You definitely have to! It is one of my favorite countries in the world! It's so huge and wonderful! I had plans to came back there this May when the endless grassland is covered with pink and purple flowers but unfortunately.. will go there next year for sure :)
Load More Replies...Wow, thanks Chris! Yeah, it was freakin cold.. :)
Load More Replies...Wonderful shots of both modern and the local classic architecture. Just curious though, did anyone get uptight about you photographing the buildings?
Thank you! No, no one did. I found the locals to be very frendly. Same with the staff or police. Had no problems with taking shots :)
Load More Replies...Your pictures were absolutely stunning. I am embarrassed to say I have never seen pictures from your country before. And I am an old lady!
Hi Rita! Thanks a lot! I’m really happy you liked Nur-Sultan! Kazakhstan is truly wonderful and it’s one of my favorite countries in the world. I come from Poland and also live here, in the royal city of Kraków, PL :)
Load More Replies...Thank you, Elina! I think you might like Astana! Keep my fingers crossed for your trip to this city in the future :)
Load More Replies...Stunning!! But.. how did they build this when it's so cold? My builders had to stop at 5C because it would be too cold for the cement... Just many years?
Thank you, Anne! The temperatures in Nur-Sultan drop below -35 in winter but it also rises above 35 Celsius degrees in the summer. The city is located in the middle of an endless grassland, far away from any big water body - that's why the climate there is very harsh. And it's also very, very windy. Maybe that's why they build new structures so fast :)
Load More Replies...How did you keep your camera from freezing up? We have cold winters where I live, but nothing like temps you described. Loved the pictures of the hoar frost covered trees. It's one of the things I love about winter. Makes everything look like it's covered in glitter. Really great pictures. Thank you for sharing them.
Thank you, Carmen! It was really cold, right. I had my cameras hidden in my backpack and 2nd one under the jacket. I had to take pictures very fast with very high ISO at night, cause I wanted to avoid unfolding tripod :) my fingers were just freezing.. but! The air in Astana was crazy - despite the dense fog it seemed to be very dry! So I didn't felt much cold generally (except fingers of course :)). The cityscape looked charming :)
Load More Replies...Not what I think of when I hear Kazakhstan. Another misconception shattered. Sorry. (Except for the weather part, I got that right.)
Kazakhstan is unusual and unobvious in many aspects :) this country is wonderful and full of contrasts.
Load More Replies...Born in Kazakhstan and lived there for 18 years... stunning architecture while people are struggling and police and Gouvernment officials are crooked embezzlers...
Absolutely stunning city. The modern architecture is inspirational, and love that the older structures are still there, too. The photographer did an outstanding job, playing up all the outstanding features. Wonderful article! Many thanks!
thank you, Debra! So nice to hear that! I tried my best to catch the original atmosphere of the city :) What's more - Astana is a modern city. The "old part" is a district of workers from Soviet times and it's not possible to find older than XX century buildings. The architects did a great job to build new ones looking like the ones from deep past :)
Load More Replies...Been there and was blown away by the architecture. Absolutely did not expect to see such modernism and radical buildings like that in Central Asia. Really great photos you have there! Nice work!
Thank you! So nice to hear. And I agree - Astana is spectacular.
Load More Replies..."Photo album of the year 2359" Absolutely breathtaking scenery and compositions!
Thank you Troux! So nice to read! Indeed - Astana is uncommonly futuristic city.
Load More Replies...Thank you, Aliya! Hope the real winters will return to us. The ones we know from the stories and fairy tales :(
Load More Replies...You definitely have to! It is one of my favorite countries in the world! It's so huge and wonderful! I had plans to came back there this May when the endless grassland is covered with pink and purple flowers but unfortunately.. will go there next year for sure :)
Load More Replies...Wow, thanks Chris! Yeah, it was freakin cold.. :)
Load More Replies...Wonderful shots of both modern and the local classic architecture. Just curious though, did anyone get uptight about you photographing the buildings?
Thank you! No, no one did. I found the locals to be very frendly. Same with the staff or police. Had no problems with taking shots :)
Load More Replies...Your pictures were absolutely stunning. I am embarrassed to say I have never seen pictures from your country before. And I am an old lady!
Hi Rita! Thanks a lot! I’m really happy you liked Nur-Sultan! Kazakhstan is truly wonderful and it’s one of my favorite countries in the world. I come from Poland and also live here, in the royal city of Kraków, PL :)
Load More Replies...Thank you, Elina! I think you might like Astana! Keep my fingers crossed for your trip to this city in the future :)
Load More Replies...Stunning!! But.. how did they build this when it's so cold? My builders had to stop at 5C because it would be too cold for the cement... Just many years?
Thank you, Anne! The temperatures in Nur-Sultan drop below -35 in winter but it also rises above 35 Celsius degrees in the summer. The city is located in the middle of an endless grassland, far away from any big water body - that's why the climate there is very harsh. And it's also very, very windy. Maybe that's why they build new structures so fast :)
Load More Replies...How did you keep your camera from freezing up? We have cold winters where I live, but nothing like temps you described. Loved the pictures of the hoar frost covered trees. It's one of the things I love about winter. Makes everything look like it's covered in glitter. Really great pictures. Thank you for sharing them.
Thank you, Carmen! It was really cold, right. I had my cameras hidden in my backpack and 2nd one under the jacket. I had to take pictures very fast with very high ISO at night, cause I wanted to avoid unfolding tripod :) my fingers were just freezing.. but! The air in Astana was crazy - despite the dense fog it seemed to be very dry! So I didn't felt much cold generally (except fingers of course :)). The cityscape looked charming :)
Load More Replies...Not what I think of when I hear Kazakhstan. Another misconception shattered. Sorry. (Except for the weather part, I got that right.)
Kazakhstan is unusual and unobvious in many aspects :) this country is wonderful and full of contrasts.
Load More Replies...Born in Kazakhstan and lived there for 18 years... stunning architecture while people are struggling and police and Gouvernment officials are crooked embezzlers...