Village of Tash-Debe. Video
Tash-Debe - a flower on a stone hill
In 2019, it marks 120 years since the founding of the first Kyrgyz settlement in the Chui Valley — the village of Tash-Debe, located 18 kilometers from the city of Pishpek.
In those distant times, the Kyrgyz built houses in this area for the first time, modeled after Russian structures, with gabled roofs made of reeds and small windows. The settlement stretched in a straight line, lined with poplars. “Tash-Debe” means “stone hill, elevation.” According to legend, the site of the first general meetings of the settled Kyrgyz was a hill called Alchinka, the remnants of which have survived to this day on the right side upon entering the village. The transition from a nomadic lifestyle to a settled one represented a significant progressive step for the Kyrgyz in managing their economy, allowing the Kyrgyz population to be less dependent on the forces of nature, and accustomed them to agriculture and gardening. People began to cultivate cereal crops and fruit trees. A positive aspect of life in this place was the bountiful nature, an abundance of natural grasses, and rich hunting grounds.
The village of Tash-Debe consisted of three different villages: Tash-Debe, which had a mixed population of Kyrgyz and Russians; Vorontsovka, which mainly consisted of Russians who arrived in the Tian Shan mountains even before the Great October Revolution, during the Tsarist era; and the village of Berbulak, located west of Vorontsovka, where mainly Kyrgyz and Turks lived.
Tash-Debe and Berbulak were established as villages next to Vorontsovka, which was one of the first Russian settlements in the southern part of the Chui Valley.
Tash-Debe is considered one of the first settled villages of the Kyrgyz in the Chui region. Later, these villages expanded and merged into one.
The name Tash-Debe, or translated from Kyrgyz “stone hill,” comes from three hills located near the village. It was rumored that these hills are the burial mounds of khans who once ruled this area.
Today, Tash-Debe is one of the largest villages in the Baytik depression, located south of the city of Bishkek behind the Bultok mountain. It has a population of about eight thousand people. The village has schools and hospitals.
The name Vorontsovka comes from a mountain flower — the peony named after Vorontsov. Subsequently, both villages merged into one settlement, where Kyrgyz, Russians, and other ethnic groups lived in harmony, sharing necessary skills in economic activities. In the years of independence, the village was returned to its historical name Tash-Debe, but both names remain popular among the population to this day.
Tash-Debe or Vorontsovka, as people have traditionally called it, is considered a resort area. It is significantly cooler than in Bishkek, and the air is free from car exhaust and numerous enterprises. Many city residents try to escape the summer heat and stuffiness to this area to better endure the sweltering heat of summer.
Unique climatic conditions, wonderful mountain air filled with the aromas of mountain plants, the distinctive appearance of mountains with snow-capped peaks, rich vegetation, and the crystal-clear waters of the Ala-Archi River, numerous fish streams, and hunting grounds — all of this has made the area unique. The tireless labor of the local residents has also contributed to its richness and prosperity, with fertile fields and gardens.
The surroundings of the village have attracted and continue to attract the population of the capital of Kyrgyzstan with their beauty, healing coolness in the summer heat, and a rich palette of colors throughout the seasons.
According to local elders, even in the early years of Soviet power, the territory of the currently operating cardiology sanatorium in the village of Malinovka, which is part of the rural district, was designated as a recreation area by members of the cooperative “Intergelpo”. In 1926, a Union recreation house was opened there, where thousands of workers from Kyrgyzstan improved their health. During the Great Patriotic War, a military hospital operated at the recreation house. There is a modest monument on the territory of the sanatorium honoring the participants of the Great Patriotic War who died at the front.
The surroundings of Tash-Debe - Vorontsovka have since remained a favorite place for recreation for Kyrgyzstani people and a place for health improvement. Currently, a cardiology sanatorium operates there, renowned not only in the country. Many patients with heart problems strive to go there for rehabilitation.
The settled lifestyle has played a significant role in the education of the villagers. As early as 1915, a primary Russian-native school began operating, and then, starting in 1928, a seven-year school functioned. In 1968, the first graduating class of 10th graders was held.
With the establishment of the collective farm named after the XXIII Party Congress, the village blossomed even more. At the height of its prosperity, the farm had more than 3,000 heads of cattle, vegetable seed production was established, wheat was cultivated, and Vorontsov apples and pears became famous in the region. Significant attention was paid to the improvement of the village, the construction of housing, and shops.
Since December 1998, R. S. Begalieva has been the director of the school — an outstanding organizer of the education system and educator. Therefore, the school staff consists of professionals and educators in the highest sense of the word.
Graduates have also shown themselves in the best light; many of them have become well-known artists, military personnel, politicians, and economists in the country. For example, B. Beyshenalieva — People's Artist of the USSR, ballerina; S. Chokmorov — People's Artist, artist; S. Begaliev — Chairman of the State Planning Committee of the Kirghiz SSR, the first chairman of the Assembly of the People of Kyrgyzstan; A. Sutralinov — General, former Minister of Internal Affairs; A. Bakayev — General, commander of internal troops of the KR, participant in the Batken events; A. Skargin — police general; the Chokmorov brothers — talented football players. A museum named after B. Beyshenalieva has been opened at the school. A monument to the participants of the Great Patriotic War has been erected on the school grounds, which is cared for by the students.
Among the fellow villagers of Tash-Debe - Vorontsovka are the names of the Minister of Transport of the Kirghiz SSR E. Kurmanbekov, outstanding scholars of Kyrgyzstan Moldabekov and B. Shalpykov; the director of the Toktogul Hydroelectric Power Stations B. Imanaliev; professor, linguist M. Rudov, and many others.
The organized pre-war and post-war outpatient clinic provided multi-profile — therapeutic, obstetric, surgical — assistance to the population of the village and surrounding settlements. Remarkable doctors such as S. Alisherov, E. Asanbaev, S. Sagyndykov, S. Ormushev, and others worked there.
From 1948 to 2018, the Ala-Tuu children's bone tuberculosis sanatorium provided specialized medical assistance to the population of the republic, with more than 19,000 sick children with extrapulmonary tuberculosis passing through its departments. Children of all ages up to the end of secondary school were admitted to the sanatorium, in both Russian and Kyrgyz languages. Up to 200 operations were performed annually, and orthopedic, physiotherapy blocks, and a resuscitation department operated there.
From 1965 to 1992, the sanatorium was a school of advanced experience for the Ministry of Health of Kyrgyzstan. Due to the optimization of the tuberculosis service and multiple reorganizations, the last department of the former sanatorium, and since 1992 the suburban clinical base of the Institute of Tuberculosis, was closed, and its premises were transferred to KGMA.
The Kyrgyz Scientific Research Institute of Resortology and Rehabilitation is the true flagship of the medical service for rehabilitation and restorative treatment. More than 500 residents of the village are employed by this medical institution. A significant achievement of the former and current leaders of this institution is the preservation of this medical facility under state control.
And, despite many difficulties, it lives successfully, and most importantly — peacefully. Multilingual speech can be heard on the streets.
And people understand each other with half a word.
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