Sel Malaya Almatinka through time

Almaty 1886–1960 8 photos of this spot

8 photographs taken at the same spot in Almaty, spanning 1886–1960 — 8 of them from before 1980. Line them up and watch the place change.

Taken around 1887 in Verny, the Russian garrison town founded in 1854 that later became Almaty, this image shows Palace Square and the town's gymnasium, part of a photographic album documenting the Caucasus and Central Asia region.

Верный. Дворцовая пл., гимназия.(N1129)Ордэн,~1887 Альбом.1-4.Кавказ и Ср.Азия 13 o e1 1886 Taken around 1887 in Verny, the Russian garrison town founded in 1854 that later became Almaty, this image shows Palace Square and the town's gymnasium, part of a photographic album documenting the Caucasus and Central Asia region.

Chapel in memory of the Verny earthquake93 1907 This 1907 photograph shows a chapel built in Verny to commemorate the destructive earthquake of 1887, which had leveled much of the Russian garrison town later renamed Almaty and killed hundreds of its residents.

Chapel in memory of the Verny earthquake94 1907 Another 1907 view of the memorial chapel erected in Verny in remembrance of the town's devastating 1887 earthquake, part of the Russian settlement in the Zailiysky Alatau foothills that would become Almaty.

Krestovaya Church at the Bishops house in Verny90 1910 This 1910 photograph shows the Krestovaya, or Cross, Church at the bishop's residence in Verny, the Russian colonial town in present-day Kazakhstan later renamed Almaty, seat of the local Orthodox diocese.

Chapel in memory of the Verny earthquake92 1916 This 1916 photograph again shows the memorial chapel in Verny built to honor victims of the town's major 1887 earthquake, part of the Russian settlement in present-day Kazakhstan that grew into the city of Almaty.

Sel Malaya Almatinka 1921 This 1921 photograph documents a mudflow, or 'sel,' along the Malaya Almatinka River near Almaty, a recurring natural hazard in the mountainous terrain of the Zailiysky Alatau range surrounding the city.

Казанский храм г. Алматы в период гг 1944 Between 1944 and 1945, this photograph captured the Kazan church in Almaty, then known as Alma-Ata, in what was Soviet Kazakhstan. The city sits at the foot of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains in Central Asia.

EU: View of Alma-Ata, 1960 (1960) 1960 A 1960 view of Alma-Ata, as Almaty was then called, showing the Kazakh city during the Soviet period, when it served as the capital of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.