Students of A.S.Pushkin Turkmen-Russian Secondary School and many adoring fans of the Russian poet gathered at the monument to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin on the street in Ashgabat named in his honor.
Those, who came to the capital’s beautiful park, paid tribute to Great Pushkin with bouquets of flowers and lines of poetry.This year marks the 220th anniversary of his birth.
The poet seemed to have a silent dialogue with the people assembled from his pedestal surrounded by age-old trees.We hold a celebration in honor of Pushkin,
And fill the world with wonderful poems.
Today we pay tribute to Pushkin
With the magical power of poetry.
Immortal is he whose Muse remained true
To good and beauty to the last,
Who could touch people’s hearts
And make them strive for the ideal... - recited young participants in a theatrical performance.The students of A.S.Pushkin School acted out extracts from The Tale of Tsar Saltan’.
Then, the much-loved lines of poetry were recited by actress Tatyana Gennadievna, Pushkin prize winner Jelal Magometov, student of the Language Center at the Dovletmamet Azadi Institute of World Languages, and officials of the Embassy of the Russian Federation to Turkmenistan.
Being in Pushkin Park, where there is an atmosphere of elevated poetry today, makes you feel profoundly grateful to those, who built the monument to Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin in the Turkmen capital more than a century ago.
The year marking the centenary of the poet’s birth, Ashgabat intellectuals had suggested the idea of erecting a monument to Pushkin to perpetuate his memory.People started to collect money; donations were made not only by wealthy individuals, but also by workers, artisans and soldiers...
It took nearly two years to prepare materials and build the monument designed by architect A.I.Butuzov.At last, the high column-pedestal topped by the poet’s bust was unveiled.
The monument, which survived the devastating Ashgabat earthquake in 1948, was renovated to celebrate Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin’s 200th birthday.