“Zero Milestone”: At the foot of Suleiman Mountain

The square at the foot of Suleiman Mountain’s north face has not always been the open and lively place it is today. Until the 1970s, the site of the modern-day museum, fountain and plaza was a very ordinary “mahalla,” a residential block with mud-brick houses.

In 1974, during the second reconstruction of Osh, the city blocks were razed and in their place a monument commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Kyrgyz SSR was built. The massive trefoil-shaped monument stands 20 meters high and eight meters in diameter, and is emblazoned with emblem of the Republic.  Its designer, Kubanych Nazarov, is also the architect who laid out the museum in the cave complex on the Suleiman Mountain.

Where the modern-day fountains stand, there was a board of honour made of stone, surrounded by pink flowerbeds. Nearby, behind the Zhupas-Aryk canal, the Osh regional television and radio station was headquartered.

In 1978, a unique souvenir shop was built in the form of a yurt with a fountain platform decorated with ceramic tilework patterns. The store has amazing interior acoustics. Unfortunately, it is no longer operational.

The revival of this central square, a perfect starting point for a walk around the entire city, began in the 2000s. In celebration of the 3000^th anniversary of the city of Osh in October 2000, a three-storey yurt was erected here. This yurt previously won the grand prize at the celebration of the 1000^th anniversary of the Kyrgyz epic Manas in 1995. Later, a monument to Alymbek Datka, the ruler of the Alay Kyrgyz, and new fountains were installed here.

In 2000, the Suleiman-Too National Historical and Archaeological Museum Complex was built inside a large natural cave in the face of the mountain, bringing together all of Osh’s old museums.

This small area at the northern foot of Suleiman Mountain has become a kind of zero-milestone for travelling around Osh. From here, in the shadow of the mountain on the bank of the oldest canal in the historic part of Osh, the city’s history begins.