Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
major Kazakh writers and teachers, no-
tably the national poet Abay Kunanbaev
(1845-1904), and Semey was a home in
exile to the great Russian writer Fyodor
Dostoevsky.
Between 1949 and 1989 the Soviet mili-
tary exploded some 460 nuclear bombs
in the Semipalatinsk Polygon, an area of
steppe west of the city. Not even villagers
living close by were given protection or
warning of the dangers. An unprecedent-
ed wave of popular protest, the Nevada-
Semipalatinsk Movement, was largely
instrumental in halting the tests in 1989,
and President Nazarbaev closed the site in
1991. But the tragic effects linger: genetic
mutations, cancers, weakened immune
systems and mental illness continue to
destroy lives and occupy hospitals and
clinics in and around Semey. The UN
Development Programme has calculated
that more than 1.3 million people have
been adversely affected by the tests.
1
¨Sights
Dostoevsky¨Museum¨
mUSEUm
(
%
52 19 42; Dostoevskogo 118; admission 150T;
h
9am-6pm mon-Sat)
The well laid-out Dos-
toevsky Museum incorporates the wooden
house where the exiled writer lived from
1857 to 1859 with his wife and baby. The dis-
plays range over Dostoevsky's life and works,
including his five years in jail at Oms and
five years of enforced military service at Se-
mey. His rooms have been maintained in the
style of his day. Tours, in English, Russian or
Kazakh, cost 300T.
It was in Semey that Dostoevsky made
friends with the extraordinary Shokan Ua-
likhanov (Chokan Valikhanov), a prince of
the Kazakh Middle Horde, explorer, intellec-
tual and spy in the Russian army. A statue of
both men stands outside the museum.
Abay¨Museum¨
mUSEUm
(
%
52 24 22; Lenin 12;
h
10am-1pm & 2-6pm
Tue-Sat)
F
The large Abay Museum
Semey
e
0
500 m
0
0.25 miles
A
B
C
D
Main Bus
Station
66
(2km);
Mezhdunarodny
Avtovokzal (4km)
£
›
#
10
1
#
ÿ
1
66
3
Avtostantsia
Sulu
#
á
#
›
9
#
ÿ
66
Zhenis
Sayabagy
(Park Pobedy)
13
#
ú
66
66
Children's
Park
2
2
#
ú
12
66
11
66
#
ú
1
#
â
66
66
Tsentralny
Park
#
ÿ
TATARSKY
KRAY
8
Istok
#
3
3
666666
6
Theatre
Semey Medical
University
666666
#
ÿ
#
#
#
â
6
7
-
(11km)
Tsentralnaya
ploshchad
G
agarin
2
#
â
#
â
#
Pavlo
v
4
666
Semey
Akimat
(City Hall)
Dostoevsko
go
666
666666
Shayzhunisov
4
4
#
â
66
Push
kin
5
Stronger than
Death Memorial (1.2km);
Peace Museum (1.4km)
Polkovnichy
Island
Abay
B
C
D
A
6
