Almaty Tower

The Almaty Television Tower (Kazakh: Алматы теледидар мұнарасы, romanized: Almaty teledidar mūnarasy; Russian: Алматинская телебашня, romanized: Almatinskaya telebashnya), or simply Almaty Tower, formally the Koktobe TV Tower (Kazakh: «Көктөбе» телемұнарасы, romanized: «Köktöbe» telemūnarasy; Russian: Телебашня «Коктобе», romanized: Telebashnya «Koktobe») is a 371.5-metre-high (1,219 ft) steel television tower built between 1975 and 1983 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The tower is located on high slopes of Kok Tobe mountain (Kazakh: Көктөбе means "green hill") south-east of downtown Almaty. Unlike other similar TV towers, it is not a concrete, but a steel tubular structure. It is the tallest free-standing tubular steel structure in the world. The tower is 371.5 m (1,219 ft) tall; its 114 m metal aerial reaches 1000 meters above sea level. It has two observation decks at the height of 146 m and 252 m, which are accessible by two high-speed elevators. It is however not open to the public. On the north-western wall of the tower, in honor of the launch of the Soyuz T-12 spacecraft, one of the largest mosaics in the city was installed, 20 meters long and 8 meters high. The authors of the mosaic, which displays satellites and astronauts, are unknown. The tower contains several tunnels leading to a bomb shelter.