UNRECOGNIZABLE FORMER BAZAR STREET
Sovetskaya Street is one of the main thoroughfares of the city, linking its old and new parts. It stretches from the foothills of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too to the Big Chui Canal (below BChK since 1974 - Baku Street). The street has expanded and rejuvenated in recent years. Almost all one-story houses built before the revolution in its center have disappeared, and those that remain are living out their last days. Entire blocks are being demolished, making way for new multi-story buildings.
The main attraction of the street is the Kyrgyz State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet named after A. Maldybaev, awarded the Lenin Order. The theater building, constructed in 1955 according to the design of architect A. I. Laburenko, attracts attention with its unique architectural concept and craftsmanship. A wide granite staircase leads from the main facade to a low stylobate, on which rises a monumental eight-column portico, topped with three sculptures. The theater hall accommodates 1,100 people. The artistic design of the interior spaces involved a team of artists led by the late People's Artist of the USSR, Gapar Aitieva.
Sculptural decoration by the People's Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR O. Manuilova.
The first performance was shown on May 11, 1955. Over the years, more than a hundred operas and ballets have been staged on the theater's stage. The theater's activities have been associated with the work of composers V. Vlasov, V. Fere, M. Raukhverger, M. Abdrayev, conductors V. Tselikovsky, R. Mironovich, N. Davlesov, K. Moldobasanov, A. Dzhumakmatov; artists Z. Shtoffer, A. Arefyev, directors A. Kuttubaev, V. Vasilyev, V. Shakhray. The theater has nurtured remarkable stage masters, People's Artists of the USSR B. Beyshenalieva, S. Kiyizbaeva, A. Maldybaev, A. Myrzabaev, K. Sartbaeva, Ch. Bazarbaev, laureates of the State Prize of the USSR A. Tokombaev, People's Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR K. Chodronov, and many others.
In the square that sprawls on the southern side of the theater, a monument to the great Kyrgyz akyn-democrat Toktogul Satylganov (1864-1933) was unveiled in 1974 (authors - artist G. Aitieva and architect A. Isaev). Below, a four-story building of the "Tulip" studio (1964, architect V. Nusov) and a five-story building, which houses a pharmacy and a dental clinic on the first floor, have been erected. Over the last decade, the street has been adorned with three nine-story residential buildings at the intersection with Bokonbaeva and Moscow Streets. In 1974, a new building of the Museum of Fine Arts of the Kyrgyz SSR was commissioned (architects D. Yryskulov, V. I. Nazarov, Sh. Dzhikshenbaev). The simple, concise forms give the museum a strict monumentality. The artistic expressiveness of the exterior is emphasized by a large area in front of the main entrance with elements of small architectural forms. The museum has 9,000 square meters of usable space. The first floor houses a cinema lecture hall, a vestibule, and a foyer, while the second floor contains four exhibition halls of 700 square meters each, a hall for traveling exhibitions, etc.
The museum was opened on January 1, 1935, and until August 1945, it was called the Picture Gallery. Its organizer was the People's Artist of the USSR, a full member of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, and twice laureate of the State Prize of the USSR, Semyon Afanasyevich Chuykov. For a long time, the museum was located in the building of the former (Cathedral Nikolai) church in Dubovy Park. At the time of its organization, it housed 114 works of art, and now its collections contain over 8,000 paintings, graphic works, and sculptures. The museum also holds paintings by outstanding masters of the past such as V. Surikov, I. S. Repin, V. Vereshchagin, I. Levitan, V. Polenov, V. Makovsky, K. Korovin, V. Vasnetsov, V. Tropinin, and others, as well as a number of paintings by Soviet masters, including A. Stepanov, V. Bakshiev, P. Konchalovsky, and others. The main collection consists of works by Kyrgyz artists G. Aitieva, S. Akylbekov, S. Chuykov, A. Ignatiev, E. Maleina, L. Deimant, O. Manuilova, L. Ilyina, A. Mikhalev, F. Stukoshin, A. Usubaliev, D. Fleckman, D. Kozhakmetov, and many others. As of January 1, 1990, the museum's collections numbered over 11,000 exhibits. The museum is visited by more than 100,000 people annually.
In 1979, a nine-story residential building with the largest food store in the city, "Issyk-Kul," was commissioned at the intersection of Sovetskaya and Toktogul Streets.
And today, of course, nothing reminds us of that street which was once called Bazar Street. The "Siberian Trade and Industrial Yearbook of 1914-1915" referred to it, along with some others, as the "most central" street. And there were grounds for this at the time. Here, on the stretch from Tokmak Street (since 1957 - Ivanitsyna) to Uyezdnaya (since 1927 - Koshchiyna, since 1935 - Kirova), shops and stalls of merchants X. Akchurin, I. Daulbaev, S. Myrzabaev, L. and S. Matanyu, N. Pugasev, A. Pushnikov, A. Kveitman, I. Pervushin, N. Ivanov, and others were grouped.
On the site of the new building of the V. I. Lenin Library, there were a number of small one-story shops until 1980 - a bookstore, a vegetable store, a second-hand store (previously a shoe store)... These buildings and some others up and down the street were once the shops of merchants. On the other side of the street, where a square is laid out near the circus, stood the "Trade Rows" - long squat buildings. Just behind the body of these rows, the Flour Market was bustling, existing until the 50s. The last buildings of the Trade Rows were demolished in 1975.
At the corner of Tokmak Street, before the revolution, there was a pharmacy goods store belonging to A. Kveitman. After the revolution, the central pharmacy operated here until the 60s.
Opposite the former savings bank No. 490 at the intersection of Sovetskaya and Frunze Streets, there was a telephone station before the revolution... for 42 subscribers. By 1925, the number of subscribers had grown to 50. Among the seven apartment subscribers were the secretary of the regional party committee M. Kamensky, the chairman of the regional executive committee I. Aydarbekov, and the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Yu. Abdrakhmanov.
On the other corner, where the building of the Central Pharmacy now stands, there was a store belonging to S. Myrzabaev (a good house with a turret, demolished after the 50s). In the early years of Soviet power, this building housed the so-called "People's House," which was later transformed into the Central Workers' Club. Films were shown here, plays were staged, and a library operated. The first performances of the Kyrgyz Musical and Dramatic Studio were also staged here: "Kaygylyu Kakei" and "Karachach." The first demonstration in 1917, dedicated to May 1 or "Freedom Day," as it was called then, took place on Bazar Street. Many demonstrators walked with red ribbons pinned to their chests. Above the column flew the slogan "All power to the Soviets!" In the evening, a festive concert was held at the "Edison" cinema in Dubovy Park.
In one of the houses between Ivanitsyna and Bayetova Streets was the editorial office of the first newspaper in Kyrgyzstan, "Pishpek Leaf," published in 1918-1919, as indicated by the inscription on the memorial plaque. The first issues of the newspaper were published under the editorship of the chairman of the Council G. I. Shvets-Bazarny, and from April 1918 - I. A. Alexeev. It was then published under the signature of the editorial board headed by A. I. Ivanitsyn. The circulation of the newspaper did not exceed 400 copies. In the same building, from September 1925, the editorial office of the republican newspaper "Krestyanskiy Put," later renamed "Sovetskaya Kyrgyzstan," was located. Here, until 1931, the editorial office of the first Kyrgyz newspaper "Erkin Too" operated, which from 1927 was called "Kyzyl Kyrgyzstan."
Opposite, on a similar one-story house, where before the revolution there was the so-called "Public Assembly," another memorial plaque reads: "In this building in 1918, the executive committee of the Pishpek District Council of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies was located." Here, on January 1 (14), 1918, at a meeting of the Council chaired by the Bolshevik G. I. Shvets-Bazarny, a resolution was adopted "...to join the central authority of Petrograd and Tashkent..." And on February 5 (18), power passed into the hands of the Bolsheviks. At the corner of Tokmak Street, in the two-story house of merchant Pushnikov, in the 30s, there was a technical school of Soviet trade and the Kirpotrebsoyuz.
On the site of the "Kyrgyzstan" hotel, before the revolution, the Pishpek District Administration was located, and after the revolution - the Revolutionary Committee. For many years, the city executive committee and its departments were located here.
Between Moscow and Toktogul Streets, in a two-story building, Kyrgyz School No. 5 named after A. S. Pushkin operated for more than 30 years. Established in 1926 as an elementary school, it became a seven-year school in 1932 and a ten-year school in 1936. The first graduation of 17 students took place in 1939. In the early 70s, the former school building housed the publishing houses "Kyrgyzstan," "Mektep," and in 1988 "Adabiyat," the State Committee for Publishing, Printing, and Book Trade, and the Book Chamber of the Kyrgyz SSR.
Below the 50 Years of the Kyrgyz SSR Avenue, from Michurina Street (until 1938 - Ilyinskaya) on the left side is the park of the Palace of Pioneers named after Kychana Dzhaqypov - the former "Terentyev Garden" - which was owned by the city mayor I. F. Terentyev before the revolution. Now, it houses various sports facilities, a stage, and attractions.
The continuation of Sovetskaya Street, beyond the Big Chui Canal, is mostly built up with individual residential houses.
The second half of the street, located beyond the railway line, is a relatively new part. Here, before the Great Patriotic War, there was steppe. The street appeared in the post-war years and was called Novo-Sovetskaya (since 1961 - Sovetskaya). In this part, two-, three-, and four-story houses alternate with one-story residential houses. Here are located the Kyrgyz Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology, Microbiology, and Hygiene, and other institutions.
At the beginning of the street, it is decorated with houses from microdistricts 9 and 10. On two multi-story 123-apartment residential buildings, two huge mosaic panels are designed - an artistic and monumental composition "Southern Gates of Frunze." The composition symbolizes the triumph of the peaceful labor of the Soviet people, reflects the theme of unity of the working class, labor peasantry, and intelligentsia, the triumph of peace and human reason. The panel is 14 m high and 10 m wide. The authors are monumental artists A. Kamensky and A. Bekdzhanyan. The solemn opening of the composition took place on November 7, 1979.
In the 1980s, significant changes occurred on Sovetskaya Street, on the section from Moscow Street to the 50 Years of Kyrgyzstan Avenue.
On April 6, 1984, the first trade house in the republic opened in Frunze. On two floors of a beautiful nine-story building that rose in the very center of the city, at the intersection of Sovetskaya and Moscow Streets, there was a large store of industrial goods, a bureau of good services, and a café. Two large complexes form the basis of the Trade House - departments for men's and women's goods. In addition, there are departments for jewelry, perfumery and cosmetics, haberdashery, and soap and detergent products.
On June 14 of the same year, a ceremonial meeting of representatives of the working people and the public of the capital of the republic was held, dedicated to the opening of the State Library of the Kyrgyz SSR named after V. P. Lenin.
The new library was built on the site of the old trade rows, at the intersection of Sovetskaya and Frunze Streets. The project authors are architects S. Nurgaziev, K. Ibraev, R. Asylbekov. The building is three stories high, rectangular, with two inner courtyards, in the design of which traditional compositional techniques of Central Asian buildings are reflected. Its collections are designed to store 3 million copies of books, and it has 6 reading rooms with 610 seats.
Today, the library not only meets readers' demands but has also become a major cultural and methodological center for cultural and educational work in the republic. Exhibitions of works by artists, architects, collections from private collections, etc., are organized here. In 1985, the library building hosted the zonal world championship in chess among women. Among its participants were famous chess players N. Ioseliani, N. Gurielli, E. Akhmylovskaya, and others, as well as Frunze resident S. Matveeva.
In 1986, the library witnessed a major cultural event of global significance. It was visited by renowned figures of world culture and science, who were in our republic at the personal invitation of writer Chinghiz Aitmatov, members of the so-called "Issyk-Kul Forum." Among them were P. Ustinov (UK), T. Olvin (USA), L. Otero (Cuba), K. Simon (France), A. Tekle (Ethiopia), and others. Members of the "Issyk-Kul Forum" planted young Tian Shan fir trees in front of the library building, thereby leaving a memory of their stay in the capital of our republic. Metal plaques with the surname and name of the person who planted each tree were installed near each tree.
On the same section of Sovetskaya Street, on its opposite side, on the site of the former consumer goods stores, an unusual architectural building "Bakyt Orgosu," which translates to "House of Happiness," was built in 1987. The palace externally resembles a cluster of mountain crystal.
The project authors are architects L. Logunov and A. Klishevich. Not only the exterior but also the interior of the building is unique, where elements of Kyrgyz national patterns are widely used in the decoration of the ceiling and walls of the reception hall.
The main purpose of "Bakyt Orgosu" is to provide household and ritual services to the city's population. Here, in a solemn atmosphere combining general Soviet and national features, wedding ceremonies are performed, birthdays are celebrated, etc., and wedding outfits and dishes are also rented out. Over its existence, "Bakyt Orgosu" has quickly gained popularity among the townspeople. Experienced specialists of the palace work on spreading new traditions and rituals in the republic, providing methodological assistance to cultural institution workers.
On Sovetskaya Street, at the intersection with Kyiv Street, next to a monolithic 100-apartment building, the first specialized branded store "Zenit" was opened in Central Asia. It is a one-story building made of brick and glass. Here, domestic cinema and photography products are sold, qualified consultations for photography enthusiasts are provided, photo exhibitions are organized, etc. In short, cinema and photography lovers in the republic received a wonderful gift.
Thus, the architectural appearance of Sovetskaya Street has recently been complemented by a number of interesting, original buildings, giving the street a unique character.
In May 1989, a remarkable event occurred in the biography of the street. In the courtyard of vocational school No. 5, located behind the railway bridge, a memorial to internationalist soldiers who died while fulfilling their international duty in Afghanistan was opened for the first time in Frunze. The names of Gordeev Vitaly Alexandrovich (1961 - 1980), who fell bravely and was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star, Moskalychenko Viktor Alexandrovich (1960-1981), who was posthumously awarded the Order of the Red Star, Tsokov Viktor Vasilievich (1967-1985), a volunteer awarded the medal "For Combat Merit"; Sheleg Igor Gennadievich (1967-1986), a volunteer awarded the Order of the Red Star posthumously, are inscribed on the marble.
Losev D. S., Kochkunov A. S. What the Streets Tell
Streets of Bishkek
