Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BISHKEK
БИШКЕК
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0312 / POP 900,000 / ELEV 800M
Green and bustling but short on sights, the
location of the country's capital is more of
an attraction than its forgettable archi-
tecture. Just occasionally, when the air is
exceptionally clear, the Kyrgyz Ala-Too ma-
terialises as if by magic to create a grand
mountain backdrop. For travellers, Bishkek
is most useful as a comfortable place to pick
up a visa or two while planning their Central
Asian adventure.
History
Bishkek town was founded in 1878 on the site
of a Russian garrison. Before that, all that
was here was the small 1825 Pishpek fortress
of the Khan of Kokand. Its name is probably
derived from the Sogdian term
peshagakh
,
meaning 'place below the mountains'. But as
pishkek
/
bishkek
is the Kazakh/Kyrgyz term
for a plunger-equipped
kymys
-churn there
are several far more amusingly crude etymo-
logical theories.
From 1926 to 1991, the city's Soviet name
was Frunze, honouring locally born Mikhail
Frunze, a Russian Civil War commander
whose Bolshevik forces seized Khiva and
Bukhara in 1920.
1
¨Sights
Bishkek's main central attractions are the
parks and museums north of Chuy around
Ala-Too Square. Don't expect much in the way
of architectural thrills. Bigger Soviet buildings
are mosty half-hearted concrete lumps but
there are a few elegant neo-Classical excep-
tions such as the State Opera & Ballet Theatre,
some spired university buildings and parts of
the square around the boxy Philharmonia.
State¨Historical¨Museum¨
MUSEUM
(Lenin Museum; Map p234; Ala-Too Square; foreign
adult/student 150/75som, local 30/15som;
h
10am-
6pm Tue-Sun Mar-Oct, 9.30am-5pm Tue-Sun Nov-Feb)
Thrillingly for Sovietophiles, this 1984 marble-
faced cube still retains many splendidly stir-
ring faux-bronze/copper reliefs and bold ceil-
ing murals reflecting the building's former
purpose as a state-of-the-art Lenin Museum.
Mixed in are a series of photos and memen-
tos from the 2010 revolution (see p301) and
portraits of that year's martyrs. The top floor
yurt signals a completely disconnected sec-
tion on ethnology and archaeology. Photos
here show items from the museum's rich col-
lection of Scythian gold but the originals are
locked away in secured vaults and only shown
to VIPs.
Ala-Too¨Square¨
SQUARE
(Map p234; Chuy 114, Kiev 71)
Surveyed by a
triumphant statue of Manas, Bishkek's
nominal centre is architecturally neo-
brutalist in style, but it has a perversely
photogenic quality, especially when slowly
goose-stepping soldiers change the guard
beside the soaring national flagpole. That
happens every two hours most of the year,
hourly in winter.
In summer, the concrete of the square's
northern half is relieved by attractive floral
displays and a
musical¨fountain¨show
(Map
p234;
h
8pm)
.
Lenin¨Statue¨
MONUMENT
(Map p234)
Having once dominated Ala-Too
Square, Vlad turned his back on the moun-
tains in 2003 and now lurks behind the
History Museum. Young skaters and break-
dancers practice their daring vaults oblivi-
ous to the desperate gesticulations of his
pointing arm.
Dubovy¨(Oak)¨Park¨
PARK
Where wide, green Erkindik (Freedom Ave)
enters this pleasant central park, painters
sell a range of locally themed, if typically
garish, art. There's a minor sculpture gar-
den amid the oaks behind the park's
statue¨
of¨Kurmanjan¨Datka
(Map p234)
, the 19th-
century heroine who also features on Kyr-
gyzstan's 50som banknote.
State¨Museum¨of¨Fine¨Arts¨
gALLERY
(gapar Aitiev Museum of Applied Art; Map p234;
%
66 15 44; Soviet (Abdrakhmanov) 196; adult/
student 50/25som;
h
9am-5pm Tue-Thu & Sat-Sun,
10am-4pm Fri)
This gallery's biliously misera-
ble concrete exterior contrasts with the neo-
classical grandeur of the Opera opposite but
the collections of Kyrgyz embroidery and
felt rugs, and the splendid variety of paint-
ings all make a visit worthwhile. Don't miss
the amusing reproductions of Egyptian and
classical statues.
Frunze¨House-Museum¨
MUSEUM
(Map p234; Frunze 364; foreigner/local 50/25som;
h
10am-5pm Tue-Sun)
This modest museum
forms a concrete shell around the thatched
cottage that was allegedly the birthplace
of Mikhail Vasilievich Frunze (1885-1925),
for whom Bishkek (Pishpek) was renamed
shortly after his death. There is little infor-
mation in English so for many visitors it's
