Rakusha: Hotels and Accommodations

Rakusha is connected with Kazakhstan’s early oil history: Kazakhstan’s first Dossor–Rakushi–Caspian oil pipeline was built in 1912; its length is stated as 60 kilometers. Anyone wishing to book a hotel in Rakusha can continue searching for accommodation afterward.

History

Rakusha was founded in 1867 on the coast of the Caspian Sea as a fishing settlement. The historic settlement on the Caspian Sea no longer existed by the end of the 1930s. By March 1917, Rakusha station had already begun producing oil. A factory committee was also active at the station. The industrial infrastructure included storage tanks and oil-loading piers.

The historic factory buildings in Rakusha have largely disappeared. Nevertheless, the site remains significant to the history of Kazakhstan’s first oil.

Waterways and Transshipment

In 1923–24, Emba used water transport to move freight between the Rakusha pier and Guryev. The motor ship Engineer Bogush supplied both Guryev and Rakusha.

In 1924, 95,000 tonnes of oil were pumped from Dossor to Rakusha station. In the same year, 77,800 tonnes of oil were transferred from Rakusha onto seagoing vessels. By 1924, Rakusha station had oil storage capacity of up to 164,000 tonnes.

Dossor oil reached Rakusha via a pipeline and was loaded onto sea barges to be shipped across the Caspian Sea to the refineries in Astrakhan and Baku. Rakusha served as the main transshipment point for oil from the Dossor field.

Surroundings

A cannon found near Rakusha was sold in 1936 to the Guryev Museum of Local Lore, which had newly opened in 1940. The Rakusha cannon is a 12-pound cast-iron gun weighing 1,920 kilograms; it could fire balls weighing nearly five kilograms up to a distance of 209 meters.

Other destinations in this selection: Zhana Aul, Atyrau, Karagayly.

To the overarching travel overview: Atyrau.