Almaty Hotels

Green Bazaar

It just so happens that every country, every nation is judged by their capital market. The shopping center "Alma-Ata", one of the 80 markets of the southern capital of the republic, is particularly popular among the citizens and guests of Almaty. Here you can buy everything — from a bunch of fragrant parsnip greens to a bowl of sparkling and foaming koumiss.

Try to plunge into the crowd, noise, colors, smells of the bazaar, feel its oriental atmosphere. At first, you may be scared by the hustle and the feeling of excitement for your wallet. Of course, it is necessary to think about safety, but after a while, wandering past fragrant fruits, juicy vegetables, you will relax and get into the taste of market bargaining.

In the old-fashioned way, the Central Market is called the "Green" Bazaar, because the first greens were traded here from time immemorial. The bazaar greeted the buyer with mountains of vegetables and fruits, bunches of greens and buckets of Vernensky pears, carts of dark red aport and giant radishes, baskets of strawberries, raspberries and other delicious mountain berries. This and other markets of old Alma-Ata were famous for their Gluttonous rows. Only here it was possible to taste everything that your heart desires — from oriental sweets to spicy seasonings and dishes. For example, try Vernensky beer with shark fins from the Japanese islands.

The townspeople, however, preferred dumplings — a kind of peak of Siberian cooking (a large diaspora of Siberian Cossacks lived here), which became the favorite dishes in Kazakh homes. Along with dumplings, pancakes, cakes, pies with all kinds of stuffing were in use. They were served in inns, carried by pirozhniki along the shopping malls.     

Special attention of buyers is attracted by apples of the aport variety — the pride of Kazakhstan horticulture. It is impossible to pass by the counters with huge bright red fruits, and beckoning to enjoy their fragrant pulp with a honey taste. Attractive appearance, high taste qualities, lightness and transportability of the aport contributed to the fact that it has long occupied a leading place in the fruit trade of Semirechye. It was transported by horse–drawn transport for 700 or more versts to Siberia and to the south - to railway stations, and some merchants sent it by mail parcels. Seedlings of aport were sent even to Western China.  He became the emblem of Semirechye, he is rightly called the king-apple, the father of apples.