A lot has been reported in recent years about the removal of communist era monuments and statues throughout Eastern Europe. Especially in the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, as well as Ukraine, the previously ominous statues of Lenin, Marx, Kalinin, Vinogradov and Dzerzhinsky, just to name a few, have been removed and either replaced with national heroes, or the spaces they previously occupied have just been left empty. Much debate has raged about the political motivation behind the removals as Eastern Europe pivots towards the west and attempts to cast off some of their Soviet past.
Despite no major realignment of political allegiances occurring in Central Asia since the fall of the Soviet Union, the five Central Asia republics were removing their Soviet era statues and monuments before it was cool. Starting almost immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in the 1990s the five Central Asian republics began removing and relocating. Uzbekistan especially has almost no statues of Soviet era leadership remaining anywhere in the country, while Ashgabat in Turkmenistan famously has one Lenin statue left. Kyrgyzstan is very much the outlier, maintaining most of their Soviet history, and when they have removed statues they’ve often placed them still in relatively central locations.
In Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, Lenin and his cohorts were replaced with national heroes – poets, musicians, statesmen. Names like Abylai Khan, Abai, Zhambyl and Al Farabi, now adorn the statues scattered throughout the public parks and squares in this cosmopolitan city, which, like the rest of the country, is trying to find its own identity.
However, for those who enjoy some socialist realism and Soviet history, all is not lost. Located in one of the micro rayons (micro districts) of Almaty is a place called Family Park. For the most part there is no reason to ever come here. Rusty old amusement park rides, vendors selling steamed corn and carnival games to try and win a teddy bear – hardly exciting stuff. However, this park also contains several of the statues removed from other parts of the city, all in one convenient location. Family Park also has a large collection of Soviet tanks, aircraft and other military equipment that would leave any military enthusiast quite satisfied.
It's not particularly difficult to get to Family Park, but other than those living in the area, even most residents of Almaty don’t know that this place exists. To get here from the main centre of Almaty you just need to jump on the metro. Family Park is located less than 200m from Saryarka (Сарыарқа) metro station. When walking from the station you’ll first come across the military display. To get to the statues you’ll need to walk through the park a bit. They are located behind the cinema Saryarka, for which the metro station is named.
Not only are there statues of several of the Soviet leadership here, but you’ll also find Mikhail Frunze, famous for being born in what was then Pishpek (now Bishkek) and being one of the main leaders of the Red Army during the civil war that followed the October Revolution. The main military academy in Moscow is named after Frunze.
Family Park is always a stop on any Saiga Tours Almaty tour, so if you’d like to come with us, check out our Kazakhstan tours .
