# ALZHIR Museum near Astana > The ALZHIR Memorial and Museum stands on the site of the Akmola Camp for Wives of Traitors to the Motherland (1938–1953), one of the Gulag’s largest women’s camps, in Akmol village 35–40 km west of Astana. Allow about 1.5 hours on site plus 40–50 minutes each way. Entry is around **1,200 ₸**; open Tuesday–Sunday 9:00–18:00, closed Mondays. Web page: https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/alzhir-museum - City: [Astana](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana), Kazakhstan - YesGo score: 32/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h 30 min - With kids: Better without small kids - Entry ticket: ≈ 1,200 ₸ for adults and foreign visitors (2024 price list) - Guided tour in English: ≈ 8,000 ₸ per person on top of the ticket - Children: Under 5 free; ages 5–15 ≈ 500 ₸ - Film and audio guide: Documentary ≈ 500 ₸, audio guide ≈ 1,500 ₸ - Opening hours: Tue–Sun 9:00–18:00 - Closed: Mondays - Bus: Suburban bus 300 from Asia Park mall (21 Kabanbay Batyr Ave) to Akmol - Taxi: Yandex Go, ≈ 40–50 min each way - Address: 2B Lineynaya St, Akmol village, Tselinograd District, Akmola Region - Time needed: About 1.5 hours; up to 2 with a guide and the film, plus travel - Coordinates: 51.07883, 70.97247 - Facts checked: 30.10.2026 ## Key facts - **1938–1953** — years the camp operated, as the 17th women’s division of Karlag (source: Russian Wikipedia; Astana Times, 2016; Eurasia Travel) - **31 May 2007** — the memorial opened, on Kazakhstan’s Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; e-history.kz; Visit Astana) - **62 nationalities** — among the women held here (source: e-history.kz; Astana Times, 2016) - **Order 00486** — the NKVD order of 15 August 1937 that made wives of “traitors” criminals (source: English and Russian Wikipedia) - **1,507 children** — were born inside the camp (source: English and Russian Wikipedia) - **5–8 years** — the usual sentence — for being married to a condemned man (source: e-history.kz; Astana Times, 2016) - **Saken Narynov** — architect of the complex and of the Arch of Sorrow (source: Russian Wikipedia; e-history.kz; KazNU Bulletin) - **14 countries** — have memorial plaques at the entrance (source: Russian Wikipedia; Tripmydream) - **20 minutes** — the documentary shown in the museum theatre (source: Astana Times, 2016; Dark-tourism.com) - **Rachel Messerer** — actress and mother of ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, was a prisoner here (source: English and Russian Wikipedia) ## ALZHIR museum tickets and opening hours The museum is open **Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00–18:00**, and closed on Mondays, according to the city tourism portal Visit Astana. Media reports put the ticket desk closing at 17:00, so plan to arrive by mid-afternoon at the latest. Prices were last raised in March 2024 by the Astana city administration. Under that list, entry for adults and foreign visitors is **1,200 ₸**, a guided tour in English is **8,000 ₸ per person** (Kazakh or Russian: 1,500 ₸), children aged 5–15 pay 500 ₸ and under-5s are free. The documentary is 500 ₸ and the audio guide 1,500 ₸. Treat these as unofficial and confirm at the desk. Payment: in Astana foreign Visa and Mastercard cards work almost everywhere, but Akmol is a village. Carry some tenge in cash for the ticket desk and the bus in case the card terminal is down. > **Closed on Mondays** The memorial opens Tuesday–Sunday only. The museum’s own website often fails to load from abroad, so check the hours on its Instagram (@museumalzhir) before you go — and leave Astana by 15:30 to reach the desk in time. ## What is ALZHIR? ALZHIR is the Russian acronym for the **Akmola Camp for Wives of Traitors to the Motherland**. From 1938 to 1953 women were sent here for one reason: their husbands, fathers or sons had been shot or jailed as “enemies of the people”. Sentences ran from five to eight years. The name was the prisoners’ own bitter joke — in Russian “Alzhir” is Algeria, so the women said they had been “exiled to Algeria”. Officially the camp was the 17th division of the Karaganda corrective labour camp (Karlag), built on the site of labour settlement No. 26. The memorial and museum complex opened on **31 May 2007**, Kazakhstan’s Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression. It is a place of mourning rather than a sight: quiet, with flowers left at the monuments. ## Is the ALZHIR museum worth visiting? Yes — if you want to understand 20th-century Kazakhstan and not just the glass towers of the new capital, this is the most moving half-day trip from Astana. The exhibition is personal: letters, photographs, dolls the women made, a reconstructed barrack. It is not worth it if you have a single day in Astana and no interest in Soviet history, or if you are travelling with small children — the subject is heavy. Labels are in Kazakh, Russian and English, but many original documents are in Russian only, so non-Russian speakers get much more out of it with an English-speaking guide or a tour from the city. ## How to get to ALZHIR from Astana 1. Easiest: a **Yandex Go taxi** from [Bayterek Tower](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/bayterek-tower) — about 40–50 minutes along the Korgalzhyn highway. There are almost no taxis in Akmol, so ask the driver to wait or book the return ride in advance. 2. By bus: first get to **Asia Park mall** at 21 Kabanbay Batyr Avenue — a short taxi ride from Bayterek. 3. Take suburban **bus 300** “Astana (Asia Park) – Karaotkel – Karazhar – Akmol”. Tour operators say it runs roughly every 30 minutes during the day. 4. Get off in Akmol at the turn for the memorial — tell the driver “muzey ALZHIR”. The entrance is a few minutes’ walk from the highway stop. 5. Return on the same bus towards Astana; ask the driver about the last departure, as evening buses are less frequent. ## What to see at the memorial - The **Arch of Sorrow** at the entrance — an openwork metal dome by Saken Narynov; visitors traditionally bow their heads as they pass beneath it. - The **“Stalin wagon”** — a copy of the freight car used to deport prisoners, with bunks and a stove inside. - The sculptures **“Despair and Helplessness”** and **“Struggle and Hope”**, and the **“Tears”** stele, on the square. - The **Wall of Memory**, carved with thousands of prisoners’ names. - The cone-shaped museum: the exhibition runs in circles — camp history, individual fates, a mock-up barrack, the sewing workshop, an interrogator’s office. - Original objects: letters, documents, photographs and handmade dolls. - A 20-minute documentary in the museum theatre. - Plaques from 14 countries at the entrance and a barrack where the women lived. > **A place of remembrance** Keep your voice down and skip smiling selfies by the wagon and the Wall of Memory. Photography inside is not always allowed — ask at the desk. Wear sturdy shoes: the grounds are large, and from November to March the steppe wind is bitterly cold. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] It’s not a Monday - [ ] I’ll reach the ticket desk before 17:00 - [ ] Return taxi arranged, or I know where the bus stops - [ ] Some tenge in cash, just in case - [ ] Warm coat and hat for a winter visit - [ ] 1.5–2 hours for the museum, grounds and film ## ALZHIR or the National Museum? | | ALZHIR | National Museum | | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Memorial on the site of a 1938–1953 women’s camp | The country’s main history museum, with the Golden Man | | Where | Akmol village, 35–40 km out | Independence Square, in the city | | Closed | Monday | Monday | | Hours | 9:00–18:00 | 10:00–18:00 | | From the centre | 40–50 min by taxi | 10–15 min | | Time needed | ≈ 1.5 h | ≈ 2 h | They don’t replace each other: the [National Museum](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/national-museum-of-kazakhstan) gives you the whole sweep of Kazakh history, ALZHIR tells one chapter very personally. With only one day, start with the National Museum; give a second day to Akmol. ## Astana’s history sights compared Every history sight in Astana rated by YesGo. - [Bayterek Tower](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/bayterek-tower) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · 2,500 KZT; kids 6–15 1,250 KZT - [Independence Square and Kazakh Eli Monument](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/astana-independence-square) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free - [Palace of Peace and Reconciliation](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/palace-of-peace-and-reconciliation) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · 2,000 ₸ incl. guided tour - [ALZHIR Memorial and Museum](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/alzhir-museum) — YesGo score 32/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · ≈ 1,200 ₸, guided tour extra - [National Museum of Kazakhstan](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/national-museum-of-kazakhstan) — YesGo score 32/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h · 5,000 ₸ foreigners, Gold Halls +1,000 ₸ ## ALZHIR in the morning, the Left Bank by evening The memorial in Akmol first, then back to town for Khan Shatyr, a walk along Nurzhol Boulevard and sunset at Bayterek. 1. [ALZHIR Memorial and Museum](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/alzhir-museum) — YesGo score 32/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · ≈ 1,200 ₸, guided tour extra 2. [Khan Shatyr](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/khan-shatyr) — YesGo score 41/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free entry; beach ≈ 20,000 ₸ 3. [Nurzhol Boulevard](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/nurzhol-boulevard) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free 4. [Bayterek Tower](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/bayterek-tower) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · 2,500 KZT; kids 6–15 1,250 KZT ## Good to know ALZHIR has nothing to do with Algeria — it is the camp’s acronym. Akmol village used to be called Malinovka, and you will see that name in older books. ## Tips - Pick a weekday and arrive at opening time — fewer groups, and you can read the letters in peace. - Pay for the English guide if you don’t read Russian: many original documents have no translation. - Don’t plan anything loud straight afterwards — a quiet walk along [Nurzhol Boulevard](https://yesgo.io/kazakhstan/astana/nurzhol-boulevard) fits the mood better. - Watch the 20-minute film first — the exhibition makes far more sense after it. - In winter dress as for a long walk: the arch, the wagon and the museum are spread across open steppe. ## Questions ### Where is the ALZHIR museum? In Akmol village, Tselinograd District, Akmola Region (2B Lineynaya St) — 35–40 km west of Astana along the Korgalzhyn highway. ### What are the ALZHIR museum opening hours? Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00–18:00; closed Mondays. The ticket desk reportedly closes at 17:00. ### How much is the ALZHIR museum ticket? Under the 2024 price list, 1,200 ₸ for adults and foreign visitors, 500 ₸ for children 5–15, free under 5. An English-language tour is 8,000 ₸ per person. Confirm at the desk. ### How do I get to ALZHIR from Astana by public transport? Take suburban bus 300 from Asia Park mall (21 Kabanbay Batyr Ave) to Akmol, then walk a few minutes from the highway. A taxi takes 40–50 minutes. ### Is the ALZHIR museum worth visiting? Yes, if you’re interested in Soviet history — it’s the most powerful half-day trip from Astana. Skip it with small children or if you only have one day in the city. ### How long do you need at ALZHIR? About 1.5 hours on site, up to 2 with a guide and the film. Including travel, plan half a day. ### Are there English tours at the ALZHIR museum? Yes, the museum offers English-language guided tours for an extra fee, and the labels are in Kazakh, Russian and English. Many original documents are Russian only. ### Why was the camp called ALZHIR? It is the Russian acronym of “Akmola Camp for Wives of Traitors to the Motherland”. It sounds like the Russian word for Algeria, and prisoners joked they had been exiled there. ### Is ALZHIR open on Mondays? No. It is open Tuesday to Sunday only. ## How we checked The museum’s own website (museum-alzhir.kz) did not load on 30.10.2026, so the hours come from the city portal Visit Astana and the prices from the 2024 list published by Azattyq Rýhy on behalf of the Astana museums directorate; all of these are marked “verifying”. Other facts are checked against at least two sources. Sources disagree: English Wikipedia says the camp closed in 1950 and covered 30,000 ha, while Russian Wikipedia and the Astana Times give 1938–1953 and 30 ha; we show 1938–1953 and leave the area out. The figure of 18,000 is used by some sources for all women held here and by others for everyone arrested under Order 00486, so we don’t use it. The number of names on the Wall of Memory (7,620) appears in only one source, so we leave it out. Bus 300 is confirmed by two sources, its timetable is not. ## Sources - Visit Astana: ALZHIR museum — address, opening hours, closing day, 30.10.2026 - Azattyq Rýhy, 15.05.2024 — the price list approved by the Astana city administration on 15.03.2024 - Visit Aqmola: ALZHIR Memorial and Museum Complex — address and layout - English and Russian Wikipedia: ALZhIR; Wikidata Q4059689 - e-history.kz: The largest women’s camp - Astana Times, 2016: ALZHIR Memorial Tells Stories of Soviet Union’s Imprisoned Wives - Eurasia Travel: Memorial Complex ALZHIR; Kazakhstanskaya Pravda — suburban route 300 - KazNU Bulletin, history series: The exposition complex of the ALZHIR memorial museum - Dark-tourism.com: ALZHIR Memorial — layout and exhibition --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.