The largest city in Kazakhstan and the former capital, Almaty is home to around two million people. Known as Alma-Ata in the Soviet era and originally called Almatau, some say the name is derived from the Kazakh word for apple and the region is said to be the provenance of the modern domestic apple.
Memorial of GloryZeonkov Cathedral, Paniflov Park, Almaty.The Memorial of Glory is a Soviet memorial to the Great Patriotic War in Paniflov Park, Almaty.This statue of the Beatles is at Kok Tobe Park in Almaty. Paul and Ringo gave thier consent for it to be built.A famous landmark of Almaty, the Hotel Kazakhstan was built in 1977. It has 26 floors and is constructed to stand an earthquake of up to 9.0 on the Richter scale.The Almaty Metro system was initiated by the Soviets in 1988, but with the collapse of the USSR it was abandoned and the first line was not operational until 2011.
