Panfilov Park

This is another blog post made a year after the event, almost to the day. I have post dated it so that it appears within the chronological order of our Kazakhstan events.

Thursday, November 12, 2008: Day 5 in Almaty and Day 72 in Kazakhstan

I cannot leave Almaty without discussing one of the most beautiful discoveries in all our time in Kazakhstan. As Kairat and I walked the city, wandering the streets, and finding ways to occupy our time, we stumbled upon a park two blocks up from the market area. Little did I know what I had discovered and, once there, how difficult it would be to leave.

This is a blurb from Wikipedia that I found, “The 28 Panfilov Heroes Memorial Park. (Also referred to the Park of the 28 Guardsmen.) This is the central park of Almaty, built around the cathedral, and dedicated, after World War II, to the 28 guardsmen of the Panfilov Division, who died defending Moscow against German tanks during the war.  There is an ‘eternal flame’ by the war memorial where schoolchildren put flowers on the last day of school, and newlyweds also come to have their photos taken there. In the park is an Orthodox church built in 1870 without a single nail, painted in dollhouse colors with a metallic steeple. You can often hear the beautiful singing coming from inside.”

And on the Zenkov Cathedral from Advantour:

“Zenkov Cathedral is surrounded by Panfilov Park, a pleasant rectangle of greenery. The Park was named after the heroes of World War II. The Cathedral is one of the few tzarist-era buildings to survive the 1911 earthquake, despite the fact it is built entirely of wood and constructed without nails. It is also one of the eight most unique wooden buildings in the world. After the revolution it was used as historical museum, cultural center, and just in 1990 again it was given a status of a Russian Orthodox cathedral.”

Thankfully Kairat decided to nap in his Ergo carrier and I was able to walk the park freely without worrying getting him back to the hotel for sleep. Dusted by a light snow, the trails and beauty of this area seemed endless. I wish I had someone to talk to so that I could find out more about its history beyond a quick reference on the Internet.

Tall trees sheltering trails, monuments at various intersections, the Zenkov Cathedral and a crowd feeding pigeons in its shawdows, people walking, children laughing…it was beautiful.