We enjoyed our day visit to the Bayterek Tower, A modern tower, in Nur-Sultan, the capital city of Kazakhstan and a popular tourist attraction among the foreign visitors and Kazakh nationals. It is emblematic of the city, which became capital of the country in 1997
THE KAZAKH WORD “BAYTEREK” mean “tall as in the tree. That’s what makes Bayterek Tower such a fitting name for a national monument steeped in symbolism and meaning, connecting the old world to the modern in a celebration of progress.
Located in Nur-Sultan (Astana), Kazakhstan, every element of Bayterek Tower was designed with the intention of imparting meaning to visitors and citizens alike, right down to the height of the tower, which stands 97 meters tall to represent 1997, the year in which Astana was named the capital of Kazakhstan.
The monument is meant to embody a folktale about a mythical tree of life and a magic bird of happiness: the bird, named Samruk, had laid its egg in the crevice between two branches of a poplar tree.
The 105m tall structure rises from a wide flat base within a raised plaza. It consists of a narrow cylindrical shaft, surrounded by white branch-like girders that flare out near the top, supporting a gold-mirrored 22m-diameter sphere.
The base contains a ticket booth and exhibition space, with two lifts rising within the shaft to the observation deck within the ‘egg’. Entrances to the monument are sunk below eye level, reached by stairs from the surrounding plaza.
The observation deck is 97m above ground level, corresponding to 1997, the year that Astana became the nation’s capital. It consists of two levels, one with 360 degree views of Astana and beyond, with a second, higher level, reached by a flight of stairs.
The top level features a gilded hand print of the right hand of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first President of the independent Republic of Kazakhstan, mounted in an ornate pedestal.
A plaque invites visitors to place a hand in the imprint and make a wish. Alongside the handprint, and also oriented in the direction of the presidential palace, is a wooden sculpture of a globe and 16 radiating segments, commemorating the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, held several times in Astana.