Travel Guide Oust-Kamenogorsk

Founded in 1720 at the confluence of the Irtysh and Ulba rivers, under the name Ust-Kamenogorsk, the city was originally a fortress designed to prevent the nomadic warrior tribes of the steppe from moving north and Russia. From the city came lines of fortifications along the Irtysh River that would later serve as a solid rear base for the Russians when they decided to conquer Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Only a few traces of this military past remain, all the fortifications having disappeared. Unfortunately, it is another, more recent era in the city, which is mainly reflected today in the visit of Ust-Kamenogorsk, which became Öskemen, its Kazakh name, again in 1993. In the 1950s, the Soviets made the city the country's metallurgical and steel centre, exploiting the rich deposits of precious and semi-precious metals in the surrounding area. As a result, as in Semey, but for other reasons, the population of Öskemen suffers from a cancer rate much higher than the national average.However, the city centre seems to be very pleasant outside of all this, around the green Kirova Park and along the two rivers that surround the city and at the confluence of which, as a popular walking destination, is the monument to the dead of the Great Patriotic War (the name under which the Second World War is known in the former Soviet countries).Öskemen is also an ideal starting point for exploring the fabulous landscapes of the Altai Mountains, provided that you have taken care to apply in sufficient time for the necessary permits to travel freely in the border regions with China and Russia.