Monumental Sites of Kyrgyzstan

Monuments of Bishkek As with any capital city, Bishkek has a number of monuments erected to commemorate important persons and events. In 2002 a new book was published, celebrating these objects. It is quite large and heavy, and written in Russian, however it offers many nice photographs illustrating these glorious monoliths. Here is a list of some of them, beginning in the North and progressing South and further East to West ...

Monuments of Balasagun 80km from Bishkek lie the remains of the former Karakhanid city of Balgasun. Balgasun was founded in the 10th century by the Sogdians and later became one of the capitals of the Eastern Khanate (the second was Kashgar). During the Mongol invasion, Balgasun was spared and renamed Gobalyk. However, the city went into decline from this point onwards and by the 15thcentury lay lost in the Chuy Valley steppe, ruined and abandoned ...