Important buildings of Kyrgyzstan

Cities of Kyrgyzstan

Central Greenway and important buildings in Bishkek 

The heart of Bishkek, the Central Greenway includes government buildings, cultural institutions, monuments, statuary, boulevards, fountains, parks and abundant verdure. IP good weather and on holidays, the entire area hums with people and activity. The busiest time of the year is Independence Day, when the part of Chui from Sovietskaya to Togolok Moldo is closed off to traffic to make way for celebrants, vendors, kiosks, make-shift street eateries, photographers, balloon sellers and other holiday sundry. /Another active occasion is on the first day of the Nooruz, the Muslim New Year - Nooruz, approximately in mid-March. Begin your walk on Chui at the White House in Bishkek Белый Дом в Бишкеке. Built in 1985, this is the seat of the government and where the president has his offices. Although visitors are not allowed inside the building, they can walk through a small section of the grounds by entering the east gate. To the east of the White House is Friendship Square in Bishkek Сквер Дружбы в Бишкеке, marked by the Friendship Monument in Bishkek Монумент Дружбы в Бишкеке, built in 1974 to commemo­rate the 100th anniversary of Kirgizia joining the Russian Empire. The inscription bears witness to the fraternal union. The plot of trees behind the monument lead to the Kyrgyz Drama Theater in Bishkek - Кыргызский Театр Драмы в Бишкеке East of this is the official flagpole in Bishkek, built in 1998. The changing of the guards takes place every day on the hour from 7 am – 6 pm (exact times vary according to seasons). Next to the flagpole is the huge Lenin Statue in Bishkeke his arm outstretched to the mountains. Lenin remains standing because Kyrgyzstan decided that he and his legacy are still very much a part the of country's history. Behind Lenin is the National History Museum in Bihkek Lenin looks out on Ala-Too Square in Bishkek - Площ a дь Ала - Тоо в Бишкеке, (formerly called Lenin Square) where official celebrations take place. Past Lenin , Ala-Too Cinema in Bishkek and the Er kindik Outdoor Art Gallery in Bishkek is Erkindik Prospect in Bishkek Turn left on Erkindik , and 50 Meters down is the Erkindik Monument, topped by Freedom as symbolized by a tyrgyz woman holding a flame ringed tunduk,' the opening in the roof of a yurta fW the emblem on the flag of Kyrgyzstan. The monument was unveiled in August 1999 for the 8th year of independence. Prior to the monument, the space was occupied by a statue of Felix Dzerjinsky (1 877-1926), the first director of the infamous Cheka, the forerunner of the KGB. The unnamed statue now sits on the west side of the National Library. Dzerjinsky was also the original name of Erkindik Prospect and is still called so by some older people. If you turn back to where you came from and cross Chui [ you will be going south on Erkindik, started by a St. Peterburgian, Aleksei Fetisov, in 1883. Following Fetisov's death, the street was simply called Boule­vard and was renamed Komsomolskaya after the October 1917 Revolution. The leafy boulevard ends at the main Railway station Bishkek Станция Бишкек II about one kilometer further south. The tree-lined promenade, the most expensive real estate in Bishkek, was previously favored by party officials for their residences and is presently owned by or rented to the influential and moneyed, and the ex-patriate community.

Returning to Chui and Erkindik, walk east towards the intersection with Sovietskaya. You will pass the Monument of the Martyrs of the Revolution in Bishkek Монумент Борцам Революции в Бишкеке, built in 1873. The woman is Urkuya Salieva, an early socialist organizer in then southern Kirgizia. Beside and behind her stand the awakening proletariat. Turn left on Sovietskaya and walk until you are across from the Opera and Ballet Theater in Bishkek Театр Оперы и Балета в Бишкеке , the bleached ochre colonnaded building with the statues on the roof. To the right of the theater is a bust of Toktogul in Bishkek, the great Kyrgyz poet ; singer and komuz (Kyrgyz three-stringed lute) player. Directly south of the statue are two buildings: on the left, the colonnaded one housing some government offices; on the right, Kabar Press Agency, in which government press conferences are frequently held.
The sedate gray and white building across the statue on the other side of Sovietskaya is the office of Delo No. .. (Number. .. Issue in Russian), a local newspaper.
Across the street from the theater stand both the Museum of Fine Arts in Bishkek - Музей Изобразительных Искусств в Бишкеке and the Chernyshevsky Library in Bishkek - Библиотека имени Чернышевского в Бишкеке, the latter behind some trees. Between them is a walk­way that few people know is called Ogonbaeva. Walk along this path and cross the next street, Tynystanova, to the Russian Drama Theater in Bishkek - Русскии Драматический Театр в Бишкеке. The theater was built in 1972 on the site of the old Russian Drama Theater, itself erected in 1929 to replace a movie theater. The theater is in Dubovy Park in Bishkek - Дубовый Сад в Бишкеке ('Oak Park'), previously called Dzerjinsky Square. The park began as an oak grove planted by Aleksei Fetisov in 1890. It is officially bordered by Abdymomunova on the north, Tynystanova on the east, Pushkina on the south and Central Square on the west. If you are puzzled by the exact bound­aries, many Bishkek residents are too.

In the center of the park is the Memorial of the Red Guards in Bishkek - Памятник Красногвардейцам в Бишкеке . The memorial was originally a wooden marker, replaced by the present red granite obelisk in 1960. The memorial commemorates the Bolshevik soldiers killed in the October 1918 counterrevolution. Buried below the memorial is the commander of the fallen fighters, Yakov Logvinenko, whose name was given to one of Bishkek's streets. The inscription in Kyrgyz and Russian reads, "Eternal glory to the fallen who fought for the power of the Soviets. " The names of the dead are engraved in the granite. The edifice for the eternal flame is next to the memorial and is lit on the appropriate occasions.
To the west of the memorial is the Gallery of the Artists' Union of Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek - Галерея Союза Художников Кыргызстана в Бишкеке, occupying the building of the former Russian Orthodox Nikolaevskaya Church. The onion dome has long been removed.
In pre-Revolutionary times, the area surrounding the park was fringed by the homes of the wealthy. One of these remaining mansions is the white building on the corner of Abdymomunova and Erkindik (about 50 meters north of the gallery), which is now partitioned and houses small local government and non-government organizations. In what was the courtyard you can see the wood detailing of the balcony. Next to the former mansion is the Center of State Language and Encyclopedia in Bishkek - Центр Государственного Языка и Энциклопедии в Бишкеке Scattered around the park are stone figures of the open-air sculpture museum, built in 1984 as a gift of the International Sculpture Symposium to Bishkek. A stone marker east of the Erkindik Monument commemorates thoughtful act. The statutes extend into the nearby Central Square in Bishkek - Центральный Сквер в Бишкеке, built in 1933. A short promenade leads north from the square and the metallic-domed Dom Drujby in Bishkek - Дом Дружбы в Бишкеке (House of Friendship), which houses the Zoological Museum, a gallery a bookstore and small offices, to one of the buildings of the American University in Kyrgyzstan. The square is guarded at the northern end by a statue of Marx (east) and Engels (west) seated together, flanked on one side by the other building of the small university, interrupted in the middle by a fountain and decorated in the south­ern end with busts of renowned Kyrgyz politicians.

On the right of the American University at the northern end of Central Square is the building of the Chui Oblast Administration in Bishkek - Чуйская Областная Администрация в Бишкеке. In Soviet times, May Day parades passed by the building because it housed the seat of government. To the left of the university is the huge colonnaded building of the Jogorku Kenesh in Bishkek - Жогорку Кенеш в Бишкеке Kyrgyz for' parliament'. Normally only citizens with prior approval and then under heavy security are permit­ted to enter the legislative debate hall.
In winter, the outdoor cafes, the flashy sun umbrellas and the public music systems disappear, and the entire area becomes hushed and beautiful with only the silent stone statuary standing sentinel to the first snowfall.