Tours to museum of Abay in Zhidebai.

“If you follow the ancient maps written on the stars, no person will ever understand you. So if you could read these maps, would you follow them? And forever be misunderstood? Or would you close your eyes tightly and pretend to be like everyone else?” 

C. JoyBell C.

Leisure destinations in East Kazakhstan.

The Abay House Museum is located in the Zhidebay tract in the Abai district of the East Kazakhstan region. A great poet lived and worked in the house, whose name became a symbol of the spirituality of the Kazakh people.
Here, each exhibit deserves a separate story. The house-museum in Zhidebay was opened in 1945 as a branch of the Semipalatinsk Literary and Memorial Museum of Abay. The house-museum is located 180 kilometers from Semipalatinsk in the Zhidebay area, which is 25 kilometers from the district center of the Abay district of the village of Karauyl.
By the 100th anniversary of Abai, the wintering of the poet Zhidebay began to function as a House Museum. On the eve of the poet’s 125th anniversary in 1970, the museum was reconstructed. The architectural appearance of the building has retained its original appearance.
For the 150th anniversary of Abai in 1995, a magnificent memorial complex was erected in Zhidebay, the authors of which are Almaty architects led by Bek Ibraev. Eight rooms and three halls of the museum feature clothing items transmitted by Abai's relatives and friends.
Among them are books in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Russian, photo documents of those years, Abay's three-stringed dombra, household items, etc. Exhibits of great ethnographic interest introduce the visitor to the Abay era.
Here are photos of Abay's exiled friends - Michaelis, Gross, Dolgopolov, Lobanovsky. The museum has a small asadal - a beautiful bone-encrusted cupboard encrusted with bone, a spacious buffet in which dishes were transported during endless wanderings.
In 1924, Amre Kashaubaev introduced this same asadal to the World Exhibition in Paris. A pen with an inkwell that immortalized the book “Words of Edification”. Dombra, who conquered impregnable Aigerim with a magic melody.
A light tarantass on which the poet rode on holidays. Dilda's wooden inlaid with a curved shape. It turns out that in the thirties, when almost all the furniture of the Kunanbaev family disappeared in an unknown way, this bed was preserved and after many years it was returned to the museum by Nugman Utepbaev.
The son of which is Nurbulan - a famous artist - the creator of the gallery of Abaev's heroes. This bed was once decorated with diamonds and was trimmed with gold. At one time, during his lifetime, Abay handed over about a hundred objects that make it possible to present the poet's lifestyle and that era.
The collection turned out to be a bed made in the national style. Numerous eyes on the pattern were decorated with diamonds; rivets were made of gold. It was a gift from Abay to the wedding. In revolutionary chaos, to unknown expropriators, whose names were not preserved in history, precious stones and gold seemed more valuable than the memory of the great tribesman.
A unique piece of furniture was looted. Years later, a museum was opened in the house of Abay, the bed was transferred to the museum.

The memorable places connected with life of Abay of Kunanbayev:

The valley Oykudyk - settlement of the beloved wife of Abay of Aygerim. Here in 1917 in two integrated yurts of the son of Abay of the Tourist's Agul the curtain of the first steppe theater was lifted.
Shilikty area Kesen - the meeting place of Abay with Aygerim.
The valley Akshoky - patrimonial winter quarters of Kunanbayev. Here ashes of the father of Abay - Kunanbaya, Mukhtar grandfather - Auez, the brother of Abay - Iskak, sons of the poet - Abdrakhman, Magavyi are based.

Authority:
"Monuments to Central Asia". Author M. Hashimov. Saga publishing house, 2001

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.