Richard And Jo Demeester's photos with the keyword: Nur-Sultan

In contrast to our mosque visit, earlier in the day, the Grand Mosque was bustling and lively. Children cried out and ran across the lush thick carpet, rolling and playing in delight. People sat around and chatted in circles. It felt very uptempo and relaxed.

Replacing Hazrat Sultan Mosque as the principal place of worship, the Grand Mosque was opened this year. It is the largest mosque in Central Asia, and ranks amongst the largest in the world.

Inside Nur Alem Pavilion, Jo shows us how fearless she is on the glass floor.

The glass of the building is not pieced together to approximate a ball, but each piece was engineered with the precise curve in it, to make a true sphere. Inside is an eight storey museum about energy, space, and the future for Kazakhstan. This follows on from its original use as the centrepiece of Expo 2017 International Exhibition. It is known as the Nur Alem Pavillion.

A couple of men have chosen sunny spots to study.

The Hazrat Sultan Mosque was the main mosque for Astana until this year, when a new mosque was inaugurated. We visited at a quiet time, when only a handful of others were inside.

Khan Shatyr means “Royal Marquee”. It is a shopping centre full of brands and entertainment, including rides and a dinosaur theme park. These two buildings mark the western end of Nurzhol Boulevard.

This city has had a number of names. In 1998, it became “Astana”, when the capital was moved here. Only in 2019 was it renamed to Nur-Sultan. With that renaming, and the following growth, planners took the opportunity to lay out the wide boulevards, creating a very open feel, and opportunities for key buildings and landmark structures to become features. The focus of the layout is Nurzhol Boulevard, and the iconic Baiterek Tower. It is inspired by legends of Samruk, who lays her egg at the top of the tree of life.

Nur-Sultan, capital of Kazkhstan. Looking out from the top of the Baiterek Tower, towards the east. The golden tapered towers provide bookends of the view of Kazakhstan’s presidential palace. Beyond that, the river separates the (obscured in this photo) Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, Independence Square, and more important buildings, as well as an important mosque.