Mansions and private mansions to visit Kazakhstan

Before entering the museum, take the time to stroll down Tolebaev Street, between Shevchenko and Bogenbay Batyr. This street, with its cobbled, pedestrianized central alley lined with well-maintained streets used by often high-end vehicles, is the historic residential area of Almaty's elite. Sure, the buildings sometimes look old and decrepit, but in the 1970s and 1980s they were the best of the best. Prices and rents were among the highest in Almaty, and only the political classes and intelligentsia could afford to live there. Today, the past presence of these leading figures of the regime or of civil society is evoked by the large plaques, still very Soviet, which adorn the buildings on either side of the street: here a prima ballerina, here a general, further on a poet... A large part of Kazakhstan's recent official history passes by as you walk down Tolebaev Street.

At the corner with rue Bogenbay Batyr, on the left, is the apartment of Dinmukhamed Kounaev (1912-1993), First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan from 1964 to 1986. The apartment is modest in size but richly decorated, especially with the many gifts received by the First Secretary from counterparts and heads of state.

Dinmukhamed Kunaev's apartment-museum. Ready for a trip back in time? The first room on the right is Kunaev's study, where you can admire his personal collection of lighters: no fewer than 467 of them, including two donated by Kennedy himself. On the desk you'll find the telephone that was once connected directly to the Kremlin, and a collection of old LPs, some of them autographed by artists, with Michael Jackson at the top of the pile.

In the dining room, note the massive sideboard, a gift from Leonid Brezhnev, topped by two elephant sculptures, gifts from Mahatma Gandhi. At the far end of the room, the armchairs still bear the shape of the august posteriors they supported during long evenings of political discussion around an old-fashioned radio. This is followed by the TV room and the bedroom, with its little make-up room for Madame, and the kitchen with all its vintage equipment.

On your way out, you can take a tour of the building's lobby, where all Kunaev's weapons and hunting trophies are on display.