# Green Bazaar, Almaty > The Green Bazaar (Kök Bazaar in Kazakh) is Almaty's big covered food market at 53 Zhibek Zholy Avenue, a 10-minute walk north of Panfilov Park. Entry is **free**. It is open Tuesday to Sunday, roughly 8:00–19:00, and closed on Mondays (unofficial — the market publishes no schedule). Allow an hour to wander, or 1.5–2 hours if you shop and taste. Web page: https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/almaty/almaty-green-bazaar - City: [Almaty](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/almaty), Kazakhstan - YesGo score: 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h - With kids: Fine with kids - Entry: Free - Hours: Tue–Sun, from 8:00 or 9:00 until 19:00 depending on the source - Closed: Mondays (sanitary day) - Best time: A weekday morning, before noon - Payment: Cash in tenge works everywhere; cards only at some stalls - Address: 53 Zhibek Zholy Ave (main hall entrance at the corner of Makataev St) - Metro: Zhibek Zholy, then ≈ 15 min walk east - Time needed: ≈ 1 hour; 1.5–2 hours with shopping - Works: Phased renovation until 2028; the market stays open - Coordinates: 43.26371, 76.95350 - Facts checked: 30.10.2026 ## Key facts - **1868** — a trading square opened here in the frontier town of Verny (source: Russian Wikipedia; Welcome.kz) - **1975** — the current covered hall went up in Soviet modernist style (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Sputnik8 (1970s)) - **Kök Bazaar** — the Kazakh name, used on signs and maps alongside the Russian one (source: OpenStreetMap; Sxodim) - **1875** — a merchants’ arcade by Jan Kozell-Poklevsky, paid for by trader Sadyk Rafikov (source: English and Russian Wikipedia) - **1887** — a major earthquake destroyed most of the market (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Welcome.kz) - **1927** — renamed the Central Collective Farm Market — locals kept calling it Green (source: Russian Wikipedia; Welcome.kz) - **800 stalls** — planned for the 1975 main hall, designed by Mark Pavlov (source: English and Russian Wikipedia) - **≈ 20,000 m²** — a two-storey pavilion with parking added on Makataev Street in 2017 (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Zakon.kz; Sxodim) - **Aport** — Almaty’s famous apples were sold here back in the 1940s (source: Russian Wikipedia; Welcome.kz) - **2023–2028** — phased renovation of utilities, façades and halls, without closing (source: Inbusiness.kz; BES.media) ## Green Bazaar opening hours The Green Bazaar opens **Tuesday to Sunday, roughly 8:00 to 19:00**, and closes on Mondays for its weekly sanitary day. Treat these times as unofficial: the market has no website or published timetable, city guides list them, and some say 9:00 rather than 8:00. One travel site even lists it as open daily. Each hall keeps its own clock. The main Winter Hall, the Central Pavilion, the textile market and the Kolos hardware hall run 8:00–19:00. The street book stalls open 10:00–18:00, and the Megatau mall next door opens daily 10:00–20:00. > **Don’t come on a Monday** Monday is the bazaar’s sanitary day and the main halls stay shut. If Monday is your only free day in Almaty, walk the [Arbat](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/almaty/almaty-arbat) or visit the [Ascension Cathedral](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/almaty/almaty-ascension-cathedral) instead and save the market for later in the week. ## Is the Green Bazaar worth visiting? Yes — it is the single best place in Almaty to see, smell and taste Kazakh food in one go, and it costs nothing to walk in. The meat hall with horse sausage hanging in rows, the dairy counters with kumys and kurt, and the long pyramids of dried apricots make it more than a shopping stop. It is not a souvenir bazaar like those in Bukhara or Istanbul: the upstairs floors sell clothes, toys and cheap household goods, which you can skip. Come for the food halls, give it an hour, and go in the morning when everything is fresh. ## What to buy at the Green Bazaar - **Kazy and shuzhuk** — horse-meat sausages, Kazakhstan’s signature food gift. Ask for vacuum packing if you are flying. - **Kurt** — hard, salty dried cheese balls — and **irimshik**, a sweet dry curd. Both travel well. - **Kumys and shubat** — fermented mare’s and camel’s milk. Try a small cup first; the taste is sharp. - **Talkan and zhent** — sweets made from roasted grain, butter and honey. - **Dried fruit and nuts** — apricots, raisins, almonds and walnuts, piled high on trays. - **Korean salads** — spicy carrot, kimchi and hye, a legacy of Kazakhstan’s Korean community. - **Mountain honey and spices** — herbs and spice mixes for plov and meat. - Clothes, fabric and household goods — in the textile market and the Kolos hall next door. > **Bring cash in tenge** Small stalls take cash and Kaspi QR — a payment system that runs through the app of Kazakhstan’s Kaspi Bank, so it is of little use without a local account. Foreign cards work only at some bigger counters. Change money beforehand, carry small notes, and expect to haggle a little. ## How to get to the Green Bazaar 1. From Panfilov Park: leave by the north side onto Gogol Street and walk one block north on Zenkov or Pushkin Street; the market starts across Zhibek Zholy Avenue. From the cathedral it takes 8–10 minutes. 2. By metro: ride to Zhibek Zholy station and walk about a kilometre east along Zhibek Zholy Avenue — 12–15 minutes, the first stretch along the pedestrian Arbat. 3. By bus: trolleybuses run along Zhibek Zholy and buses along Makataev Street, stopping by the market walls. Route numbers change, so check a transit app before you go. 4. By taxi: 5–10 minutes from the centre; ask for the Winter Hall at the corner of Zhibek Zholy and Makataev. 5. Afterwards, walk back to the Arbat or the cathedral — both are a few minutes away. ## A short history This is **Almaty’s oldest market**. A trading square opened on the site in 1868, when the town was the Russian fort of Verny, and in 1875 the merchant Sadyk Rafikov paid for a stone arcade. The 1887 earthquake flattened most of it. In 1927 it became the Central Collective Farm Market, but locals called it the Green Bazaar for its mountains of vegetables and greens. The present concrete hall with its galleries opened in 1975, planned for 800 stalls. A two-storey pavilion with parking went up on Makataev Street in 2017. Renovation of utilities, façades and halls is now under way in stages until 2028, and the owners say the market stays open throughout. ## When to go and how long to stay Come **on a weekday morning, between 8:00 and noon**. Produce is freshest, aisles are calm and vendors are happy to hand you a taste. By late afternoon the butchers and dairy sellers are packing up, and weekend middays get crowded in the main hall. An hour covers a walk through the food halls. Allow 1.5–2 hours if you plan to taste, compare prices and buy gifts. For photos, climb to the upper gallery of the main hall — the view down over the dried-fruit rows is the classic shot. Ask stallholders before you photograph them up close. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] It is not Monday - [ ] Going in the morning, before noon - [ ] Cash in tenge, small notes - [ ] A bag for shopping - [ ] Space in the suitcase for sausage and dried fruit - [ ] Allowed 1–1.5 hours ## Markets and bazaars compared Every market rated by YesGo. - [Green Bazaar](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/almaty/almaty-green-bazaar) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free entry ## Old Almaty in half a day The bazaar in the morning, the wooden cathedral in the park a block away, a stroll down the Arbat, then sunset on Kok-Tobe. 1. [Green Bazaar](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/almaty/almaty-green-bazaar) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free entry 2. [Ascension Cathedral](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/almaty/almaty-ascension-cathedral) — YesGo score 48/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free 3. [Almaty Arbat](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/almaty/almaty-arbat) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Free, open 24/7 4. [Kok-Tobe](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/almaty/kok-tobe) — YesGo score 32/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · Cable car 10,000 KZT return ## Good to know You may see the market signed as Kök Bazaar, Zelyony Bazar or Green Market — it is the same place. The Megatau mall and the textile market next door are separate buildings with their own hours. While renovation continues, some entrances or passages may be temporarily closed. ## Tips - Pair the bazaar with the Ascension Cathedral in Panfilov Park, one block south. - Walk the whole aisle before buying — prices vary from one stall to the next. - Ask for a taste: kurt, honey and dried fruit are offered almost everywhere. - Flying home with kazy? Ask for vacuum packing. - Hungry afterwards? Cafés and canteens line the streets around the market, and the Arbat has coffee shops. - Head on to [Kok-Tobe](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/almaty/kok-tobe) afterwards — a cable car runs up the hill. ## Questions ### What are the Green Bazaar opening hours? Tuesday to Sunday, roughly 8:00–19:00; closed on Mondays. These are unofficial times — the market publishes no schedule. ### Is the Green Bazaar open on Monday? City guides say no: Monday is the weekly sanitary day. One travel site lists it as open daily, so don’t count on a Monday visit. ### Where is the Green Bazaar in Almaty? At 53 Zhibek Zholy Avenue in the city centre, one block north of Panfilov Park, between Pushkin, Zenkov and Makataev streets. ### How do I get to the Green Bazaar? Walk 8–10 minutes north from Panfilov Park, or take the metro to Zhibek Zholy and walk 12–15 minutes east. A taxi from the centre takes 5–10 minutes. ### What should I buy at the Green Bazaar? Kazy horse sausage, kurt, irimshik, dried fruit and nuts, mountain honey, spices and Korean salads. Try kumys on the spot. ### Can I pay by card at the Green Bazaar? Only at some larger counters. Most stalls take cash in tenge or Kaspi QR through a Kazakh banking app, so bring cash. ### Is the Green Bazaar worth visiting? Yes, for the food halls — it is Almaty’s best place to taste Kazakh food. Skip the upstairs clothing floors. ### How long do you need at the Green Bazaar? About an hour to walk the food halls, 1.5–2 hours if you taste and shop. ### Do you have to haggle at the Green Bazaar? A little bargaining is normal, especially on dried fruit and nuts. Compare a few stalls first and pay with small notes. ## How we checked The Green Bazaar has no official website or timetable, so hours and the closing day are marked “verifying”. Sxodim, Welcome.kz and Tripadvisor give Monday as the day off and 19:00 as closing (opening 8:00 or 9:00); Sputnik8 says daily 9:00–19:00. We show the majority view and flag the conflict. History is checked against English and Russian Wikipedia, Welcome.kz and Sputnik8; the 800-stall figure and the architect appear only in Wikipedia. Renovation deadlines have slipped (end of 2024, end of 2025, May 2026); the latest source is an April 2026 interview with the market’s owner citing works until 2028. Walking times are measured on the map. We don’t give bus numbers to the market because routes change. ## Sources - English Wikipedia: Green Bazar; Russian Wikipedia: Zelyony Bazar (Alma-Ata); Wikidata Q60851906 - Sxodim: Kok Bazaar in Almaty — halls, hours, payment, 2023 - Welcome.kz: Green Bazaar — history, hours, transport, 2023 - Sputnik8: Green Bazaar — address, hours, directions, 2025 - Tripadvisor: Zeleny Bazar listing — hours and closing day - Inbusiness.kz: renovation of the Green Bazaar, April 2026; BES.media, December 2023; Tengrinews - Zakon.kz, July 2015 — on the new pavilion - OpenStreetMap — names and address --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.