Transport & Communications Ministry

Nur-Sultan (Astana)


The tall, gleaming, copper Transport & Communications Ministry, has been dubbed the ‘Lighter’ by irreverent locals. Ironically, there was a fire inside the building soon after its completion.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Nur-Sultan (Astana) attractions

1. KazMunayGaz

0.19 MILES

East of Khan Shatyr, across a park, stand the grand headquarters of the state energy company, KazMunayGaz.

2. Emerald Towers

0.28 MILES

Striking office blocks whose tops splay outward like the pages of opening books.

3. Nur Astana Mosque

0.32 MILES

A block south of the western part of Nurzhol bulvar stands the beautiful four-minaret Nur Astana mosque, opened in 2005. Its prayer hall (for men only –…

4. Northern Lights

0.32 MILES

These three undulating, light-green apartment towers are a prominent feature of the western part of the boulevard.

5. National Archive

0.53 MILES

The egg-domed National Archive stands just west of the Bayterek Monument.

6. Khan Shatyr

0.53 MILES

Nur-Sultan's most extraordinary building (so far), the Khan Shatyr is a 150m-high, translucent, tentlike structure made of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene …

7. Bayterek Monument

0.62 MILES

Nurzhol bulvar's centrepiece is this 97m-high monument, a white latticed tower crowned by a large glass orb. This embodies a Kazakh legend in which the…

8. Ploshchad Poyushchykh Fontanov

0.84 MILES

The eastern half of Nurzhol bulvar starts with this plaza, which springs to life with music-and-water shows at 9pm on summer evenings. Further east stand…