Park of 28 Panfilov guardsmen in Almaty

An old city park in Almaty

The Park of 28 Panfilov Guardsmen is a historical and architectural monument founded in the second half of the 19th century. The green park 18 ha in area with numerous old oaks, maples, aspens, pines and firs growing in it surrounds the famous Ascension (Zenkov) Cathedral. Engineer P. M. Zenkov who had been managing the construction of the Ascension Cathedral took part in the organisation of the park.

Initially known as the Urban Garden, the place was consecutively renamed Pushkin Garden, Lenin Park and the Park of the Soviet Federative Republics, and only in 1942 it was given its current name in honour of Panfilov Heroes who were defending Moscow against the German army in 1941 during the Second World War. Currently, the park is one of Almaty’s main attractions.

The park’s territory encompasses a few significant architectural and cultural monuments.

Buildings:

• Ascension Cathedral (1907) - the world’s tallest wooden Orthodox Christian temple; a unique structure built of Schrenk’s spruce in the late period of the Russian Empire. Its special earthquakeproof structure allowed the Ascension Cathedral to resist a very strong earthquake in 1911.
• The Museum of Folk Musical Instruments is organised in an old wooden building constructed in 1908. The museum boasts a varied collection of Kazakh folk musical instruments.
• The House of Officers. This monolithic 4-storey building with white marble columns was constructed in front of the eastern entrance to the park in 1978. It provides a through passage to the Eternal Fire of the Glory Memorial. The House of Officers includes a concert hall and cinema, as well as administrative and other rooms.

Monuments:

• The Glory Memorial and Eternal Flame in the eastern part of the park were opened in 1975 to the 30th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic (Second World) War. The memorial complex consists of four parts:
  • high relief The Oath dedicated to fighters for the Soviet authority;
  • The Feat composition in the centre depicting the Panfilov heroes that fervently defended Moscow in the Second World War;
  • the solemn and optimistic composition Trumping the Glory;
  • huge labradorite cubes near the Eternal Flame. The cubes hide under them capsules with earth from hero cities.
• A monument to General I. Panfilov, commander of the 316th rifle division which was among the defenders of Moscow in 1941. The division consisted of residents of Almaty and Bishkek.
• A monument to Tokash Bokin - a Kazakh hero who struggled for the Soviet authority.
• A monument to Kazakh soldiers that died in Afghanistan.
• A monument to writer Bauyrzhan Momysh-uly, the Hero of the Soviet Union, one of the Panfilov guardsmen that were defending Moscow in 1941.

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