Republic Square, Almaty
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Republic Square (, ''Respublika Alañy'', ), also known as Independence Square (; ) or New Square (; ) is the main square in
Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...
,
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
. It is used for public events. The former presidential palace, later used as municipal offices, sat on its south side until 2022.


History

The area was created by the decision of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of Communist Party of Kazakhstan Dinmukhamed Kunayev, since an increase in population of the city, the Lenin Square during festival events could not accommodate all the residents of the city. The area opened in 1980 under the name Brezhnev Square (after
Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...
) in honor of the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the Kazakh Republic. It has become the main square of the capital of Kazakhstan and until the
collapse of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
it was a place for mass demonstrations, celebrations, festivals,
military parades A military parade is a formation of military personnels whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. Large military parades are today held on major holidays and military events around the world. Mass ...
, rallies, festivals. The area was planted with
deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
and
coniferous Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...
trees. In 1981, Kunayev and party workers planted 70 Tien Shan firs along the walkway area. In 1982, the authors of the square, for the second and last time in the history of Kazakh architecture, received the State Prize of the USSR in the field of architecture. In 1986, an infamous uprising known as
Jeltoqsan The Jeltoqsan (), also spelled Zheltoksan, or December of 1986, were protests that took place in Alma-Ata, Kazakh SSR, in response to CPSU General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's dismissal of Dinmukhamed Kunaev, the First Secretary of the Com ...
occurred in the square. Where a group of crowd gathered to protest over Kunayev's dismissal. The events lasted from 16 December until 19 December 1986. The protests began in the morning of 17 December, as a student demonstration attracted thousands of participants as they marched through Brezhnev Square across to the CPK Central Committee building. As the result, internal troops and
OMON OMON is a system of military special police units within the Armed Forces of Russia. It previously operated within the structures of the Soviet and Russian Ministries of Internal Affairs (MVD). Originating as the special forces unit of the So ...
forces entered the city, violence erupted throughout the city which around 200 people were killed. In 1992, the basic, most important and favorite holiday was celebrated in the square. For the first time began to celebrate
Nauryz Nowruz (, , () , () , () , () , Kurdish: () , () , () , () , , , , () , , ) is the Iranian or Persian New Year. Historically, it has been observed by Iranian peoples, but is now celebrated by many ethnicities world ...
. Unlike before, during
Perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...
where the holiday was only allowed to celebrate at the Lenin Square. Every year on 22 March, from morning to midnight thousands of Almaty residents came to the square to celebrate the national holiday of the vernal equinox - Nauryz. In the square, every year on March 22, tents were put out, which sold baursaks, leather, rice and soft drinks. Festive concerts were also held by famous Kazakh stars. Parades in honor of the 50th anniversary of the victory in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the 5th anniversary of the Independence of Kazakhstan took place on the square on 9 May 1995 and 16 December 1996 respectively. In 2007, the square began construction of underground shopping and entertainment center, which demolished granite platform. Because of the construction zone, 60% of the area was closed by a fence, a large number of the Tien Shan fir trees were cut down, the movement of vehicles became limited. Before 2012, a symbol of independence for all Kazakhs - the Republic Square was disfigured by pits and wells. Residents negatively reacted to the construction, as the celebration of
Nauryz Nowruz (, , () , () , () , () , Kurdish: () , () , () , () , , , , () , , ) is the Iranian or Persian New Year. Historically, it has been observed by Iranian peoples, but is now celebrated by many ethnicities world ...
was impossible for it to be held. In 2012, the construction of the underground shopping center was finally over, however the celebration of Nauryz was still restricted until 2014 which the celebration was finally allowed. During the Bloody January unrest in 2022, the mayor's offices that were located at Republic Square, along with the former Presidential Residence, were raided by protesters, with the buildings being set on fire and largely damaged. It has been announced that instead of repairing the mayor’s office and President’s Residence, they will be demolished and replaced by an amusement park and public park, respectively. In December of 2022 the Tagzym Memorial was dedicated to the victims of the violence, both the 227 civilians and the 18 security personnel who were killed, and the hundreds more who were wounded. The Memorial located on the eastern side of the complex, just south of Satpaev Street, near the giant Oak of Independence. It consists of a series of rectangular monoliths in black, gray and white stone with information about the incident and its victims in gilded lettering. It was ceremonially unveiled by President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev (born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakhstani politician and diplomat who has served as the second president of Kazakhstan since 2019. He previously served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 ...
, who had issued the very orders for security forces to fire on the protesters.


List of architectural monuments

The area previously had a status of state monuments of architecture and urban planning. In 2015, it was ruled into the State list of historical and cultural monuments of local importance in Almaty. * Akimat of Almaty Residence (the former Communist Party of Kazakhstan) * Residence of the First President of Kazakhstan (former Presidential Palace of Kazakhstan from 1991-1997, demolished in 2022) * Republican Schoolchildren's Palace (the former Republican Palace of Pioneers) * Independence Monument * Tagzym Memorial


Name

From 1980, the area was named as New Square, in 1982 the area was renamed to Brezhnev Square as a tribute to the death of
Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...
. On April 1, 1988 a published decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet and the USSR Council of Ministers changed the name from Leonid Brezhnev back to New Square again. On May 23, 1990, the Supreme Council of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic adopted a resolution to rename New Square to Republic Square.


Gallery

File:Акимат Алматы на Площади Республики. Июль, 2015 года.JPG, Akimat (Mayor) Residence. File:Republic Square at night.jpg, Republic Square at night. File:Fountains in Republic Square Almaty -2.jpg, Fountains in Republic Square. File:Independence Monument Zheltoksan.jpg, Jeltoqsan monument.


Notes


References


External links


Webcam on the Republic Square

A 1980 military parade on the square in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Kazakh SSR
{{Almaty National squares Squares in Almaty Tourism in Almaty Buildings and structures in Almaty