Feel the history in D.A. Kunaev's apartment-museum in Almaty

Have you ever been to an apartment of any first soviet secretary of the communist party? Sounds particular, right? It’s always interesting to see where the presidents or politicians really used to live, especially those who were the symbols of an epoch. If you love history and particularly museums with no protective glass, then welcome to an apartment-museum of D.A. Kunaev in Almaty, where personal belongings are left untouched and open for visitors. You will be impressed to feel the history in the memorial apartment-museum of D.A. Kunaev, the leader of Kazakh SSR.

Who was D. A. Kunaev?

Dinmukhamed Akhmedovich Kunaev was not just the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR but also a diplomat, an academician and three times Hero of Socialist Labor. It’s a particular person who dedicated his life to the development of Kazakhstan. Moreover, he was so modest that for a long time he didn’t indicate that he was the first secretary of the Communist Party on his business card, but instead he wrote that he was a mining engineer or didn’t put anything at all, apart from his name and telephone number.

The structure of the complex

Actually, there are two museums in this complex. The first one is more like a classical museum, and it was opened in 2002, on D.A. Kunaev’s 90th anniversary. The second and most particular one is the memorial apartment-museum, where he actually lived. This one was opened only from 2012.

So, the memorial apartment-museum has two exhibition rooms. The first one shows us his younger years, while the second one is all about his career and working life. There, you can see documents, souvenirs (gifts from the leaders of different countries including N.Ceaușescu, L.Brezhnev. S.Hussein), a collection of lighters, weapons, a personal library with more than 5000 books, personal belongings, etc. He lived in this 200 square meters apartment for 24 years. Obviously, it still keeps his energy and shows the real lifestyle he used to have, as most of the things have never been touched.

How to find it and when to visit?

The memorial apartment-museum is located in an actual house, in Tulebayeva Street 119 in Almaty, on the second floor (the apartment №5). It’s close to the center of the city (the closest metro station - Almaly). It open for visitors from Monday to Saturday (except on Tuesdays) from 10h to 18:00h. I also must mention that the staff of the apartment-museum is incredibly friendly and helpful. They gently provided me with some unique and interesting information. So, I highly recommend you to take a tour, that is available only on Wednesday and Saturday from 10h to 19h.

Apartment-museum of D.A. Kunaev, Almaty

Tolebaev St 119, Almaty 050000, Kazakhstan

Prices

Prices are as modest as the ex-owner of the flat. The adult ticket costs 800 tenges (around 1,9 euro), the student ticket 300 tenges (70 euro cents), and for children it costs 200 tenges (50 euro cents). Come to feel the history in the memorial apartment-museum of D.A. Kunaev in Almaty.