My home city

There are many eye-catching cities in my country. And one of them is my home city Semey. The town was founded in 1718 by merchants who built seven tents in an empty place. “Semipalatinsk” which in Russian language means “Seven tents” was the name for this place; afterward it was changed to “Semey”. Later, it became a big trade center, so this city has a great history. At the time when it was formed, the town was occupied mostly by intellectuals. Therefore, there are many museums, theaters and public libraries. And if I had a chance to be a representative of my city and present my city to a visitor, I would show everything I could.

First of all, I would take the visitor to our old gate, the entrance to the town, which was a part of the fortress in the past. The Gate was built in 1773 under the direction of an engineer-captain Andreev I.G. After 300 years the gate and the high-angle gun are the only things left in a modern city. The ball bullets, next to the gun, are packed together in the same position as it was 300 years ago. And I was always asking to myself “Did anyone ever shoot from this gun?” Well, I don’t think that it was simply to decorate the gates.

The next place which I would show to the visitor is our huge bridge. Since our town is divided by a wide river called “Irtish”, our modern construction joins together two separate lands. It was built in 2000 by Japanese IHI Corporation and Turkish Alarco Alsim company. It has the same design as The Golden Bridge in San Francisco, except the fact that our bridge is wider. In the one end of the bridge, there is an embankment which is always crowded with walking people. On the other end of the bridge, there is a big aqua-park which is always crowded with joyful children. Moreover, from this bridge, the island, where different types of animals collected from all over the world, could be seen. This beautiful sight is worth seeing.

Also the City History Museum would be very interesting to the visitor because he/she would be able to become familiar with a variety of traditional clothes, ceremonies and food. For example, "Nauryz" festival marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the new year. "Beshparmak" is a very popular dish which consists of boiled meat and small pieces of pastry. There is also a description of many traditional games, musical instruments, etc. And as a part of the tradition, it is obligatory to give the national clothing as a present for the guests, so the visitor would have a good memory about the visit and the city.

In conclusion, there are many captivating places in my town. If I had a chance to present my town for the visitor, I would need at least one year to show him/her all the engrossing sights.