Читать книгу Alma-Ata – discouraging charm in the Centre of Asia. The subjective guidebook - Andrey Mikhailov - Страница 11

In the very heart of Almaty, in an old park, nearby the magnificent Voznessenskiy cathedral, pigeons have reigned for more than one century.

Here, to one and the same permanent cooing and flickering wings flapping, time goes in different manner than at any other place. Time goes slowly here. And if there is some peculiar Almatynian rite of passage, connecting such different peoples and such unlike generations that inhabited and are inhabiting our city, then it performs right here, in the shadows of the temple.

Every one of us visited this place in his childhood, with his parents, absorbedly fed and enthusiastically chased these agitated birds, and then brought along his own children to this place for them to do the same thing, later his grandchildren, and – he who was lucky – his great grandchildren. Thus, pigeons of the Voznessenskiy cathedral (how many generations of them there were, no one knows exactly) are this very alive link that connects Almaty citizens with their past, future, and with one another. It equals local citizens with newcomers. And makes everyone love this glorious city.