Walking at fountains of Almaty.

"Your silver dust sprinkles me with cold dew"

L.A. Matveeva.

Trip from Shymkent to Almaty.

Who among us, passing by the “soul of the gardens” - fountains - didn’t stop at least for a minute by the dancing water on a sultry day? Walk the streets of Almaty at the height of summer. Hot. Asphalt melts. And because as a meeting with the holiday you perceive cool rainbow stems of fountains. Here is a completely different air.
It breathes easily and freely. Now in the city there are 125 fountains and fountain groups of the most diverse designs. All of them are made of durable materials: marble, granite, bronze casting, stainless steel. In combination with green spaces, other elements of improvement, fountains create a favorable microclimate in urban squares and squares.
According to documents, the first fountains appeared in Alma-Ata in 1941 at the entrance to the square adjacent to the building of the Abai Opera and Ballet Theater. Architects I. Belotserkovsky and B. Stesin used the enclosed space of a small garden to create classic ponds of calm geometric shapes.
After the war, during the design of the square near the former building of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, four more round pools of the architect Levinson are created with a powerful thick cap of water.
But the real flowering of the "fountain" business falls on the late 60 - 70s of the last century. At this time, a gallery of ponds appeared near the Government House with the poetic name "Thousand Jets" by architect V. Panin.
The fast-paced rhythm of the modern city required even more expressiveness from the architecture of small forms. Designers are increasingly starting to enter into the prospect of squares and boulevards pools that create a beautiful silhouette of flying water against a background of greenery.
Such a fountain "Dandelion", located near the building of the General Post Office. The architect M. Safin achieved the “fluffy head” effect using 168 nozzles in the fountain design, of which water is sprayed under high pressure.
The city was greatly decorated with a system of fountains and cascades built on the boulevard along the K. Baiseitova street, near the building of the Kazakh Drama Theater named after M. Auezov, on Republic Square, on Dostyk Avenue.
One of the most impressive is the fountain at the Kazakhstan Hotel, built in 1979 by the architects Y. Ratushny and L. Ukhobotov. The main stream, beating from the middle of the bowl of a huge bronze flower, takes off 20 meters.
The fountain "Oriental Tale" or, as it is called "Signs of the Zodiac", located near the building of the National Academy of Sciences of Kazakhstan. It was created according to the project of architect V. Katsev, sculptors V. Tverdokhlebov and A. Tatarinov.
According to the diameter of the circular pool, there are 12 figures of animals representing one or another year of the eastern calendar, such as a mouse, a leopard, a horse, a dog, a wild boar, a cow, a monkey, a ram, and so on.
According to legend, once upon a time, in ancient times, animals gathered and argued about who was the first to see the ray of the rising sun. The camel, arrogantly looking at the brethren, it is important to utter, which is as clear as day: the first luminary he sees - the tallest and most intelligent.
But at night the mouse scrambled quietly to the hump of the “king of the desert” and only lit up the east, as the steppe was resounded by her joyful cry: “I see, I see the sun!” So ​​the self-confidence was punished. The animals drove away a camel, and they put a small mouse to open the calendar.
It is this legend that architects used to create sculptures. On the Kok-Tyube mountain in 2005, the Yabloko fountain was built, personifying the symbol of the city of Almaty. The author is sculptor E. Rakhmadiev. One of the highest fountains in our city is located on the Sairan Lake - the jet height reaches 50 meters.
Fountain compositions are a wonderful decoration of our city. According to the decree of the Akimat of Almaty dated February 12, 2005, annually, on May 25, the “Festival of fountains of the city of Almaty” is held.

Authority:
L.A. Matveeva.

Photos
F. Gemadieva.