Merchant I.S. Silin's house

        The town constantly grew continually. It was built over not only with wooden and cob houses but also ones made of stone which have kept safe till now in the central part of Astana.

        Two-storeyed building is the house of one of the town's rich men - the merchant I.S. Silin. The street where the house was situated was the central street of Akmolinsk and was called Bolshaya Bazarnaya street. Nowadays it is called Kenesary str.

        The following years Akmolinsk became a trade center where caravans with goods moving between Europe and Asia stopped for night’s lodging. There stopped not only merchants from Kazakhstan but also from Central Asia, Russia, and even China and India. In 1864 there were 37 public buildings for the most part made of adobe blocks, 365 private houses made of wood and 82 stores.

        The growth of the town may be illustrated by such figures: 1890 - 5,640 people, the town's budget -16,000 rubles; 1912 - 14,765 people, the budget - 56,242 rubles.