Hazret Sultan Mosque in Astana: when to go, month by month
- January: possible
- February: possible
- March: possible
- April: good
- May: best time
- June: best time
- July: best time
- August: best time
- September: best time
- October: good
- November: possible
- December: possible
The interior is indoors all year, but walking the grounds is only comfortable from May to September; July is the wettest month and winter highs stay well below freezing.
Hazret Sultan Mosque in Astana: why go
The main dome of Hazret Sultan
The central dome rises 51 m and measures 28.1 m across at its base. It is ringed by eight smaller domes, and four 77 m minarets stand at the corners.
A name taken from Khoja Ahmed Yasavi
"Hazret Sultan" means Holy Sultan, an epithet of the Sufi sheikh Yasavi. His mausoleum stands in Turkistan, in the south of Kazakhstan.
One walk, several Astana landmarks
The mosque is beside the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, the Kazakh Eli monument and Independence Square, on the right bank of the Yesil river.
Mild months in Astana
Highs of about 18–25 °C from May to September suit walking the grounds. January averages −11 °C by day, so winter visits are mostly indoors.
Built from 11 countries' materials
The project manager said the materials for Hazret Sultan came from 11 countries, alongside local products. A fire in January 2012 delayed the opening.
Hazret Sultan Mosque in Astana in photos
Real photos by travellers (Pexels, Unsplash, Wikimedia Commons); author and licence are given in each caption.
Hazret Sultan Mosque is a working Friday mosque in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on the right bank of the Yesil river. It opened on 6 July 2012. By Wikipedia it holds 5,000 worshippers, or up to 10,000 on religious holidays. It is an easy city stop rather than an expedition: the building is about 4 km in a straight line from Astana’s centre point, next to other landmarks of the new capital.
A city mosque, not a day trip
Visiting Hazret Sultan is a short stop inside Astana. The Kazakh Wikipedia gives the address as 48 Tauelsizdik (Independence) Avenue. The mosque stands beside the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, the Kazakh Eli monument and Independence Square, so most travellers can see all four in the same walk.
Astana is in the north of the country, far from Almaty and the mountain parks of the south-east. If your trip is built around Almaty, this mosque alone is not a reason to fly north. If you are already in Astana, it is one of the obvious buildings to see. We could not confirm public transport routes, so check them locally.
The building in numbers
The figures below come from the Wikipedia articles in Russian, English and Kazakh. They show the scale you are walking into: the minarets are 77 m high.
| Feature | Figure |
|---|---|
| Construction started | June 2009 |
| Opened | 6 July 2012 |
| Main dome | 51 m high, 28.1 m across at the base |
| Smaller domes | 8 |
| Minarets | 4, each 77 m high |
| Capacity | 5,000; up to 10,000 on holidays |
| Prayer halls (Kazakh Wikipedia) | 4,000 places for men, 1,000 for women |
| Floors (Kazakh Wikipedia) | 3 |
| Workers during construction | 1,000 to 1,500 |
The style is classical Islamic, with traditional Kazakh ornament. The Kazakh article says the front walls are faced with natural stone and the reinforced-concrete domes are clad in metal. It quotes the project manager, Şefik İskenderoğlu, as saying the materials came from 11 countries, along with local products. Inside there are rooms for ablutions and wedding ceremonies, halls for reading the Quran and for study groups, a library and a canteen.
Where the sources disagree
The Wikipedia articles give different figures for the size of the grounds and buildings. Both sets are shown here.
| Measure | Russian and English Wikipedia | Kazakh Wikipedia |
|---|---|---|
| Grounds | more than 11 ha | 13 ha |
| Built area | 17,700 m² | 17,700 m² for the mosque, 20,600 m² total construction area |
| Small domes | diameters 10.45 m and 7.6 m | each 7.6 m, plus a 15.2 m vestibule dome |
The Russian and English articles also mention an 80-metre spire with a crescent pointing towards Mecca. They describe it as part of the architectural plan. We could not confirm whether it was built.
Why it carries the name Hazret Sultan
The name means “Holy Sultan”. According to Wikipedia, it is one of the epithets of the Sufi sheikh Khoja Ahmed Yasavi, author of the Divan-i Hikmet. His mausoleum is in Turkistan, in the far south of the country. If the name draws you to the history, the Turkistan page covers the mausoleum. The Arystan Bab page covers the tomb of Yasavi’s teacher.
The opening was delayed by a fire. It broke out on 15 January 2012 and pushed back an opening planned for spring. In 2022 the building was added to Astana’s register of historical and cultural monuments of local significance.
Visiting a working place of worship
Hazret Sultan is an active mosque with its own imams, not a museum, so visit with that in mind. On holidays the mosque can hold up to 10,000, double its usual capacity of 5,000. That makes holidays a poor time for a sightseeing visit.
We could not confirm visiting hours for non-Muslims, the dress code, rules on photography inside, or whether guided tours are offered. Ask at the entrance or at your accommodation before you go. If you have no Russian or Kazakh, have the name written in Kazakh (Әзірет Сұлтан мешіті) ready for taxi drivers.
When to go: Astana’s climate
The interior can be seen in any season. What changes is how pleasant it is to walk the grounds and the neighbouring monuments. The figures below are computed normals from the ERA5 reanalysis for 2011–2020, at a grid point at 353 m elevation. They are not readings from a weather station.
Day high, °C / Night low, °C · Rain/snow, mm
A computed reanalysis normal for these coordinates, not weather station records.
Monthly figures
| Month | Day high, °C | Night low, °C | Rain/snow, mm |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | -11.6 | -19.2 | 14.5 |
| Feb | -9.8 | -18 | 15.5 |
| Mar | -1.3 | -9.8 | 22.8 |
| Apr | 13.1 | 1.3 | 28.2 |
| May | 20.2 | 6.7 | 29.9 |
| Jun | 25 | 12.6 | 41.8 |
| Jul | 25.9 | 14.2 | 61.8 |
| Aug | 25.1 | 12.3 | 28.1 |
| Sep | 18.4 | 6.3 | 23.6 |
| Oct | 8.8 | -0.2 | 31.2 |
| Nov | -3.4 | -10 | 28.6 |
| Dec | -9.1 | -16.1 | 23.2 |
Winter is hard. In January the average daytime high is −12 °C and the nights fall to about −19 °C, so time outdoors between buildings is short. Average daytime highs are below freezing from November to March. May, June, August and September are the comfortable months, with highs of roughly 18–25 °C. July is the warmest month at about 26 °C, but also the wettest, with around 62 mm of precipitation. April and October are cool, with highs near 13 °C and 9 °C.
City, historic and rock-cut mosques are listed together in mosques in Kazakhstan.
- Visiting hours for non-Muslim tourists and any times when the mosque is closed to visitors
- Dress code and rules on photography inside the prayer halls
- Whether guided tours or tours in English are offered
- Public transport routes to Tauelsizdik Avenue and from Astana’s airport
- Whether the planned 80-metre spire with a crescent was ever built
Hazret Sultan Mosque in Astana: tips before you go
- Avoid religious holidays for sightseeing: capacity rises from 5,000 to up to 10,000 worshippers on holidays.
- Combine the visit with the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation and Kazakh Eli monument next door.
- For a taxi, show the Kazakh name Әзірет Сұлтан мешіті and the address 48 Tauelsizdik Avenue.
- In winter, plan short outdoor stretches: January nights average about −18 °C and days about −11 °C.
More to see nearby
Frequently asked questions
When was Hazret Sultan Mosque built?
How many people does Hazret Sultan Mosque hold?
How tall are the dome and minarets?
What is next to Hazret Sultan Mosque in Astana?
What does the name Hazret Sultan mean?
Sources
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