One of the centres of the tragic events in Kazakhstan has been the republic's former capital, the city of Alma-Ata

One of the centres of the tragic events in Kazakhstan has been the republic's former capital, the city of Alma-Ata. The footage from the world news agencies illustrating the destructive nature of the disorders shows Republic Square. It is the very place where the December uprising of 1986 was concentrated: large-scale unrest against the political decisions of the Central Committee on the appointment of the first secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan. In effect, those events brought Nursultan Nazarbayev to power. During those protests, devastation was avoided. Now, however, a search for "Almaty" returns images of the burning buildings of the Republic Square ensemble. Let us talk about the urban-planning history of this space.

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free. So, here is the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

One of the centres of the tragic events in Kazakhstan has been the republic's former capital, the city of Alma-Ata

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At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s