Shymkent

Shymkent lies in the foothills of the western Tian Shan, about 120 km north of Tashkent. With more than a million people it is Kazakhstan's third-largest city, and since 2018 it has had the status of a city of national significance alongside Astana and Almaty. Its population is unusually mixed, with large Kazakh, Uzbek and Russian communities, and its food and markets feel close to Tashkent's.

History

A settlement existed here on a branch of the Silk Road by the early Middle Ages, and the city marked its 2,200th anniversary in 2016 on the basis of archaeological finds from the old citadel mound. For centuries it was a modest caravan town, fought over by the khans of Kokand and the Kazakhs, until Russian troops took it in 1864. In the Soviet period it became an industrial centre, and since independence it has grown quickly, with new parks, boulevards and public buildings.

What you see

Ordabasy Square, the main square, is the city's ceremonial heart. The citadel mound has been laid out as an archaeological park with a reconstructed fortress gate and wall, showing the excavated layers of the medieval town. The large central bazaar is lively and good for dried fruit, spices and southern Kazakh food, and Shymkent's parks, including the Independence Park and the Dendropark, are pleasant in the evening. The city is known across Kazakhstan for its relaxed southern pace and its cafés.

How to experience it

Shymkent is more a convenient stop than a destination: a few hours, or a night on the way to Turkestan, are enough. It is the first city after the border from Tashkent and a stop on the Tashkent–Almaty Talgo train, and Kazakh trains continue to Turkestan in about three to four hours. ATMs and card payments work easily, so it is a good place to pick up tenge.