There is a city in Kazakhstan whose history began back in 1879, when the first settlers appeared on the banks of the Tobol River. They came here from various provinces.
Origin of the name
The resulting settlement occupied 13.5 thousand acres of land and was named Nikolaevsky. But in 1885, having become a county town of the Turgai province, it was renamed Kostanay. From the Kazakh language, this word was translated as "the parking lot of the Kazakh tribe." It was formed from two components: "kos" - a yurt, and "tanai" - a Kazakh tribe. In 1884, a church, a court, a school and other public buildings were built on its territory. By 1913, the city of Kostanay was replenished with new residents. Its population reached 28,300 people, whose main activity was agriculture.
Further development
This was possible due to its location on the fertile black earth. Trade developed widely. The city of Kostanay served as a commercial platform for such goods as s alt, fish, leather, wool, grain, furs, flour, meat, beer and other agricultural products. In order to expand the delivery of products to other regions of Russia, an iron railway was built in 1913.road.
Industry in the city began to develop only after several enterprises producing footwear, artificial fiber, and clothing were evacuated to its territory during the Patriotic War. In order to ensure their work, as well as the comfort of workers, they began to lay engineering networks, equip the city, plant trees and shrubs on the streets.
Age of Prosperity
In the post-war years, the city of Kostanay continued its development. Virgin lands were developed, on which people were engaged in the extraction of minerals: bauxite, asbestos, ores. The development of the city continues today. Its population is about 240,000 people. An international airport was built relatively recently.
Schools in the city of Kostanay are general education. There are 51 of them in total. But there is also a kindergarten school, an art school named after A. I. Nikiforov. In addition to industrial enterprises, two higher educational institutions, a philharmonic society, libraries, palaces of culture, theaters, and a museum are located on the territory of the settlement. The city of Kostanay can be called the cultural center of the region of the same name.
Memory of Ages
The main streets of the city of Kostanay, and at first there were only ten of them, witnessed the events that took place here during the entire time of its existence. Most often, street names reflect the historical past, the names of the heroes. And at the end of the 19th century they were called here in accordance with the name of the provinces from where the settlers arrived: Tomsk, Penza, Tashkent, Samara, Troitsk,Orenburg and others.
The main street was Bolshaya. It ran from the Tobol River to the railway station. It housed the houses of we althy merchants - Yaushev, Kargin - as well as grocery stores and shopping arcades. The Soviet government gave this street a new name - Proletarskaya. Two years later it became known as the Soviet. And two more - Lenin Street. But more than once she had to go through renaming. In 1975, it became Leninsky Prospekt, and in 2000 - Al-Farabi Prospekt.
In general, many streets in the city with the advent of Soviet power began to be called differently. And this is not surprising. Tsarskaya became Leo Tolstoy Street, Barabashevskaya was renamed in honor of Lavrenty Taran. But it happened in many cities at that time. The main thing is that the renaming does not affect what was located on these streets. And in Kostanay, you can see many interesting buildings and monuments on them.
Cultural sites
The city center of Kostanay is interesting because there is a regional museum of local lore. It was opened back in 1915. Only here you can get complete information about the region. The exposition consists of 112 thousand exhibits. In the museum you can learn about what was on the local land in ancient times, what Kostanay region is rich in today, how the Patriotic War affected the city and many other significant facts.
But not only this is interesting for the city of Kostanay. House 85-A on Gogol Street is a toy museum. It contains 5000 exhibits. Until now, everyone can replenish the museum's exposition. And the toys are very different. These are dolls and soldiers, cars and weapons, cheburashkas, pistols and many other children's entertainments. All exhibits are unique. There is even a female Egyptian figurine here, which was made in the 2nd millennium BC
Where to go?
No wonder Kostanay is considered the cultural capital of Kazakhstan. Here is the Regional Drama Theatre. Omarov, who often takes part in republican festivals. He presents both adult and children's performances to the public. A studio is based on it. The Russian Drama Theater is also a must-see. It was founded back in 1922. Now it is merged with the puppet theater. The productions of his actors have received prestigious awards even at international festivals. Well, do not forget to look at the Philharmonic. The first place of its location was the building of the regional drama theater. Now you can hear musicians working in various directions here. Moreover, not only Kazakh music is played.
Interesting and modern monuments of the city. For example, the Charlie Chaplin statue. The famous actor is depicted in full growth with a bowler hat and cane. It is located near the building of the Kazakh-French cultural center. The sculpture of a girl with a laptop, made of bronze, also attracts tourists. This is a monument that reflects modern reality. Many want to take pictures next to him.
The city of Kostanay is a flourishing cultural, scientific and industrial center of Kazakhstan. If you want to see how it has developeda small settlement on the banks of the Tobol River in a relatively short period of time, be sure to come here.
