The next station is Zhusaly, which I first learned about: from here, on the eve of the First World War, along an 11-kilometer cross-over narrow-gauge railway (that is, a track is being built, a train passes through it, then the track is disassembled and put back in front of the train), English industrialists were transporting equipment for the construction of a copper smelting plant to eventually got Soviet power... The current Dzhusaly is an urban-type settlement (18 thousand inhabitants), which grew out of Fort No. 2 of the same Syrdarya line - the Russian bridgehead for the conquest of Turkestan, where the Orenburg Cossacks served. Zhusalinsky district, like Kazalinsky, is closed for tourists, and according to personal feelings, it is guarded more strictly. A year ago, the parking lot in Zhusaly was 15 minutes: during this time I managed to get out, walk along the entire train, taking pictures, jump into the last car before leaving and return to my compartment already on the move. This time the parking lot was, it seems, 7 minutes, and I did not go out, only filming the station buildings on the move:

29.

Yes, the station itself - and from my car it did not fit into the frame, and I went to the next car:

30.

Before the trip, I somehow feel the places of potential danger - this scheme is very well described by Heinrich Böll in "The train arrives on schedule", where German soldier seeing the city of Stryi on the map and hearing its name, he understood that he would be killed there. A year ago, the Dzungar Gate responded unbearably alarmingly to me in preparation, but this time it was not so alarming, but still strained by the word "Zhusaly". And so it happened - after this shot I heard the shout "Hey, you can't shoot! Who are you ?!" and saw a policeman. He smiled, replied "Yes, I'm a tourist, just for memory ..." and hurried deeper into the car. In the corridor, a fat Kazakh conductor overtook me, demanded to show my documents and a ticket, and still let me go. However, I managed to get scared, recalling last year's story, in addition I realized that the conductor of the next car would follow me at other stations, and somehow by itself made the decision to get off in Kyzylorda, to which there were one and a half hundred kilometers and a couple of hours of travel.

31.

Zhusaly cemetery:

32.

Syrdarya and the emptiness of the Kyzylkum coast. Pay attention to the yurt in the courtyard - I have noticed these from the windows more than once, Kazakhs use them as summer kitchens.

33.

In general, the landscape is changing here. The floodplain of the Syr Darya becomes wide, and the Aral Karakum is replaced by green meadows with human-sized grass.

34.

V Soviet time rice was grown here (the Kyzylorda region was the main area for deportation of Koreans, who still make up 3% of the population here), this is clearly visible on the map with the characteristic "ornament" of the drawing workers, and I would even venture to suggest that the rice grain was brought to this elevator - it seems to the village of Zhalagash (14 thousand inhabitants):

35.

The cemetery seems to be in the same place. Pay attention to how the appearance of the auls has changed, tall trees and bushes have appeared. This is the beginning of a chain of oases in which Turkestan, Chimkent and Tashkent are located, and we will get to know this phenomenon better in the next part. Although the Kyzylorda region is the most sparsely populated in Kazakhstan (3 people per kilometer is about the same as Far East, and the region itself is slightly larger in area than the whole Belarus), the Syrdarya floodplain is inhabited very well.

36.

And here the steppe is approaching again. A lonely train station in the void - now, it seems, a residential building. In the former Perovsky district, secondary stations look like this:

37.

On the approaches to Kyzylorda, having gathered too early, I sat down in another compartment. There were three girls and an intelligent-looking guy who almost did not speak Russian. The guy had a dombra with him, and I asked if it was possible to photograph it. The guy not only allowed, but after that he took it in his hands and sang a hysterical song very beautifully - and after all, in the Turkic languages ​​you cannot always tell where is the modern stage, and where are the ballads of the nomads; it’s even strange that so harsh in toponymy and everyday speech, these languages ​​are so enchantingly beautiful in songs.

38.

The outskirts of Kyzylorda have already stretched, and I immediately remembered that in everyday life it is called Kyzyl-Dyra - the view of the city was gloomy and unkempt:

39.

40.

For some reason, Kyzylorda has a reputation as the most uninteresting regional center in Kazakhstan. Well, the cities here generally do not shine with the richness of history, but nevertheless Kyzylorda is far from the worst case, it’s more interesting than that. And besides, the only regional center in Kazakhstan with a large pre-revolutionary station. However, the station here is large and busy, and the buildings near the first carriage are rather dull:

41.

There is a railway station hotel in that house with a panel, on the top floor, and I decided not to be smart and checked in there. The aunt at the reception desk spoke almost no Russian - illustrative example the fact that the Kyzylorda region is the most "titular" (Kazakhs are 95% of the population). Nevertheless, there was a free single room with a toilet ... but again without a shower, which dispelled the hope of finally washing normally and not wiping it off with water (it's already 4 nights away!). Having laid out everything unnecessary and invaluable from my backpack, I went for a walk around the city. The view from the reception window (it can be seen in the frame above) of this part of the station - already upon returning, at sunset:

42.

Estimate the number of stalls. I remember that a year ago I bought pegodi in one of them - traditional Korean pies, which reminds of those same 3%. The house, facing the paths with patterns, also had a clock with the signs of the zodiac at the end:

43.

The building with the hotel (and, importantly, a couple of good dining rooms) is also notable for the Soviet panels on the walls:

44.

45.

It has been recently renovated, inside is clean and air conditioned ... and the interiors have been preserved:

46.

The ceiling of the checkout hall, where I made a stopover and took a ticket for the morning on the Bishkek train - more expensive than KTZhshnye, but suitable for me in time (and besides, what does it matter to the Kyrgyz conductor that I am taking pictures in Kazakhstan?).

46a.

Station from the side of the square. The stations of Turkestan and Arys are arranged in about the same way (I have not yet seen the latter), only there they are even more complicated, larger and more spectacular.

47.

Near the station there is a small park with half-dried trees and an abundance of flowers, which are constantly watered by a cleaning lady in a characteristic mask - this is how they are dressed in Kazakhstan almost always in hot weather, and this particular one got on the title shot. A lonely building - it seems to have been a railway police before the revolution:

48.

Western end of the station. The shot was taken at dawn, while waiting for the Bishkek train. You can see a water bottle and some kind of improvised museum worker or a visual aid. Nevertheless, two railroad workers passing by noticed my camera down and remembered the "spy" among themselves.

49.

There are some other houses, obviously of the railway department, behind the station. And behind them is the classic railroad outskirts - there are such ones in hundreds of post-Soviet cities:

50.

Kazalinsk (kaz. Azaly) is a city in the Kazalinsky district of the Kyzylorda region of Kazakhstan.

Population - 3.1 thousand inhabitants (2009).

The city is located on the right bank of the Syrdarya River. Railroad station Kazaly (formerly Kazalinsk) on the Aralsk - Kyzylorda line is 12 km away north of the city, on the territory of the regional center, urban-type settlement Aiteke-Bi (formerly Novokazalinsk). The adjective Kazalinsky is also applied to this settlement.

Before the degradation of the Aral Sea and the Syrdarya delta in the second half of the 20th century, the main occupation of the inhabitants was fishing and fish processing. There was a fish and brick factories, which are currently closed.

The city is officially included in the Aral Sea zone of ecological disaster.

Population

Most of the city's residents are Kazakhs. Also, dozens of families of Russian Old Believers "Uralites" live. Residents leave the city in search of work, leaving for Baikonur, Kyzylorda, other cities of Kazakhstan and Russia.

Kazaly "Urals"

Kazalinsk was known as one of the settlement centers of the Aral "Uralites" (self-name), also known as "Udtsy" and "Aralians". These are the descendants of the Ural Cossacks, exiled in 1875-79 for disobeying the 1874 “Regulations on military service of the Ural Army”.

At the beginning of the 20th century, about 1,500 Ural residents lived in Kazalinsk. They were mainly engaged in fishing and hunting. In everyday life, they distanced themselves from the Russians - adherents of the official Orthodox Church.

At present, representatives of the older and middle generations retain the Old Believer rituals, while young people identify themselves as "Russians." In the 90s of the XX century, a Russian school was closed in Kazalinsk due to a lack of students.

sights

The historical part of Kazalinsk is an urban development complex of the late XIX - early XX centuries, which is an architectural monument of national importance. Protected are the Ganibay's house (XIX century), the building of the G. Muratbayev memorial museum (late XIX - early XX centuries), the building of the city library (the former Ganibay mosque, XIX century), the Nogay mosque (Nuraly mosque, XIX century), the building of the district house of culture named after ... R. Baglanova (former church, 1904).

In 17 km south-west of Kazalinsk, near the village of Urkendeu, there is a settlement of Zhankent (Yangikent) (V-XV centuries).

Notable natives

Geography

The Aiteke-Bi - Birlik road passes through the city. There is a highway 15 km north of the city.

Visiting the sights of Kazalinsk at the end of the 19th century.

“The wives of the soldiers sometimes sell bread and pies in the bazaar, and in the houses they often sell wine, although this is persecuted, for the most part they are idle, civil servants have laundresses with difficulty and for a high fee, and women servants cannot be found at all, meanwhile life soldiers' families are not poor, the lack of women involuntarily leads them into temptations, and with weak notions of the honor of their husbands, the soldiers find the means and live well without difficulty. "

From documents of the late XIX century about Kazalinsk.

Drive from Baikonur to Kazalinsk.

In 1851, a new outpost appeared 20 versts from the ruins of ancient Yangi-Kent Russian Empire- Fort No. 1, which soon acquired the name Kazalinsk. Kazalinsk bears the name of the Kazakh "Kazaly", which means "face" or "top"). Magnificent buildings of the beginning of the last century, the station is able to decorate the platform of any big city... “Kazaly” is written on the station building, but the city that grew up by the railway, since 1903 was called Novokazalinsky, now it bears the name Aiteke-bi.
The population is approximately 30 thousand inhabitants. There is a car repair plant here. Kazalinsk itself is located 10 km to the south-west from here and no more than 10 thousand people live in it, like a hundred years ago. When a thriving city found itself on the sidelines of the railroad. Despite this, Kazaly merchants have always been considered rich. In 1918, they paid the Bolsheviks a reparation of 500 thousand gold rubles without any problems. Along the road, which stretches across a completely flat desert, we meet the memorial of one of the famous heroes of the Younger Zhuz Zhankozh Batyr, this leader, being an old man, brought a lot of trouble to the colonial administration, which in the late 50s of the XIX century began to take the most convenient lands from the local population ... Every city starts with a museum. A neat old log building. Perfect cleanliness and a lot of interesting exhibits ... "Kazalinsk is located at an altitude of 71 m above sea level, on the right bank of the Syr Darya on the large caravan route between Russia Khiva and Bukhara."
These lines are taken from the book by Alexander Dobrosmyslov "The cities of the Syrdarya region" published in 1912. The first fortification called Kazalinsk was founded by the Orenburg military governor Vladimir Obruchev in 1847, now it is the city of Aralsk. Taras Shevchenko was in exile here for three years. It soon became clear that the site for the fort was chosen unsuccessfully away from the main trade route... In 1853, Fort No. 1 was erected on the site of modern Kazalinsk. In 1855, all the settlers from the Aral fortification were transferred here. By 1858, after the suppression of the uprising of Zhankozhi-batyr, there were already 600 infantrymen, 300 Cossacks and 85 artillerymen in the fort. In 1861, 347 settlers settled at the fort.
Here is one piquant detail from the documents of that time: “the wives of soldiers sometimes sell bread and pies in the bazaar, and in houses there is often wine, although this is persecuted, for the most part it is idle, civil servants have laundries with difficulty and for a high fee, and women the servants cannot find them at all, meanwhile the life of the soldier's families is not poor, the lack of women involuntarily leads them into temptations, and with a weak understanding of the honor of their husbands, the soldiers find the means and live well without difficulty. " In 1862, the fort was connected by a post road with Orenburg. In July 1867, the county town of Kazalinsk appeared on the map, which is part of the Syrdarya region of the Turkestan General Government. From that time until 1905, the post of district chief in Kazalinsk was held by 13 people. Most of these people were concerned exclusively with their own careers, they did not know the region and did not want to know. Although there were still exceptions, for example, Stepan Putintsev, the former mayor from 1892 to 1898. Under him, the famous district garden was created in Kazalinsk. The garden was located practically on the banks of the Syr Darya and was a favorite resting place for the townspeople. Now there is only a huge wasteland around. Now only here and there stumps of once huge trees stick out. In 1887, the police appeared in the city. By 1903, there were 19 police officers in the city, which is significantly less than now with the same population. In 1909 the coat of arms of Kazalinsk was approved. Here is his description: “A natural loaded camel, accompanied by a golden trident at the top. In the free part, the coat of arms of the Syrdarya region. The shield is crowned with two golden vines connected by an Alexander ribbon. " Currently, the city does not have a coat of arms. Since 1868, Tatars began to arrive in Kazalinsk, who, despite the discrimination of the colonial administration, left a noticeable mark on the life of the city. Researchers of the region note that it was they who delivered religious books across the steppes. And the book trade in the city was carried out both from Kazan and from Bukhara. Subsequently, these books were hidden from the Soviet regime, but some of their copies still ended up in the museum, and they have not yet been translated, there is no specialist in Arabic graphics in the museum. The Ural Cossacks-Old Believers were exiled to Kazalinsk, who, as they say, were "punished without measure" and periodically imprisoned in the city prison-castle, the key to which is kept in the museum. You will not find so many medals on any bottle of champagne.
As for the Urals themselves, they did not mix with the other urban population and were considered “a sober and hard-working people,” at the beginning of the last century there were 2,000 of them in the city. V late XIX century in Kazalinsk developed prosperous fishing to this day. It was when fishing began to develop in the city that Kazakhs began to settle here, who at the beginning of the 20th century already made up more than half of the urban population.
This sharply distinguishes it from other cities in the south of the country, since Kazakhs were then in the minority in them. Jews, sedentary Sart Turks, Karakalpaks and Persians also settled here. According to the 1897 census, 7,585 people lived in Kazalinsk, for comparison, 5058 people lived in Perovsk, that is, in Kyzylorda, and 11,907 in Chimkent. In 1910, the population of Kazalinsk increased to 12,247 people, which is more than now. At the beginning of the 20th century, a water supply system from the Syrdarya appeared in the city. There were 25 kerosene-smoking lanterns on the city streets. In 1905, Kazalinsk already had streets with sidewalks made of baked bricks, of which nothing is left now. Cemeteries in the city were already "not neat enough". In 1858, the first school was founded in Kazalinsk, however, in general, education in the city was poorly developed. In 1863, a school for Kazakh children was opened, while initially only 6 people studied there. In 1884, evening courses for adults were opened.
There were others in the city educational establishments... And in 1900, the Kazaly public library named after Rear Admiral Butakov was opened, we will remember about him later. In 1879, a meteorological station was opened in the city, where it was determined that the average annual temperature in the city was +8 degrees, the highest temperature was + 42.1 degrees, and the lowest was 40 degrees. The first mosque in the city was built by the Bukhara merchant Alimbaev in 1872. Subsequently, the mosques were built by Tatars, Sarts and Kazakhs. The building, built in 1915, has been perfectly preserved. Inside is cleanliness, carpets, brightly painted wooden columns and ... emptiness. After the revolution, there was a warehouse, a club, and a clinic. Kazalinsk has always lived in trade. The scale of the trade is evidenced by the fact that more than 20,000 heads of sheep were exported from here to Orenburg annually. The merchant turnover in these places reached 2 million rubles a year. In addition to cattle, they traded in crockery, fabrics, and dried fruits. English goods were also brought here. Kazaly merchants erected magnificent caravanserais in their hometown. One of them has survived not far from the old mosque. The huge building, in which it is quite possible to place a modern supermarket, is completely abandoned, there is not even a sign on it stating that it is an architectural monument. Nearby is another beautiful building - a former madrasah with a magnificent minaret. Now it is located here sport school... It is hard to believe that the now small river reached the outskirts of Kazalinsk, but fishing, which is still flourishing in this region, is associated with it. Sturgeons were also caught in the Aral Sea and were very cheap.
It was expensive to export fish to Orenburg before the construction of the railway, although the fishermen earned very good money. In 1856, steamships passed through the Syrdarya for the first time. Lieutenant-Commander Butakov then on two ships climbed up the river from the delta to the mouth of the Chirchik, that is, south of Tashkent. In the Kazaly Museum, there is a photo in which a satisfied audience rides down the river on a paddle steamer. It is difficult to imagine, but now located quite far from the river Kazalinsk in the 19th century was the main base of the Aral military flotilla. 200 sailors lived in the city. True, this flotilla eked out, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, a miserable existence and in 1893 was sold at a public auction. It was near Kazalinsk that the Aral flotilla was based, and the Ural Cossacks-Old Believers who were exiled here in 1877 (for disobeying the provisions on military service) laid the foundation for industrial fishing in the Aral and in the lower reaches of the Syr Darya. Very soon, the local Kazakhs also tasted the taste of fish - by the end of the century, they owned the overwhelming part of the catch in the Syr Darya basin. The annual catch in the Aral region in 1910 was 945,158 poods and was sold to the markets of Russia and Turkestan for 504,971 rubles. And the entire transit trade through Kazalinsk (already by the time the flotilla was liquidated in 1882) amounted to 7.5 million rubles a year. However, the loss of military significance was the beginning of a long period of decline of the city. But by the end of the nineteenth century, Kazalinsk was still a significant settlement for these places. The population of this county town was 7,600 people, who huddled in 645 inferior huts with flat roofs. In spring, during floods, the city was surrounded on all sides by water, which stagnated until summer and was a breeding ground for an anopheles mosquito. There was one Orthodox church in that city, several mosques, a city school with a craft class and a "Russian-Kyrgyz school". Finally, the fate of Kazalinsk was decided by the Orenburg-Tashkent, built in the 1900-1905s. Railway, which ran 12 kilometers northeast of the city. All cargo and trade were concentrated in the new station settlement - Novo-Kazalinsk, taking away the last incentives to develop from the city. Now from the glorious past in Kazalinsk there are only old merchant mansions and red brick shops on dusty streets lined with poplars and willows. Although navigation along the Syrdarya continued until the end of the 50s of the XX century.