Bukpa Hill
Geography
The hill, 1,191 feet (363 m) at an elevation of above sea level and located at 53°16′19″N 69°19′50″E / 53.27194°N 69.33056°E and forms part of the group of hills in Kokshetau. Kokshetau is traditionally thought of as being a hilly city, because of the number of hills in or close to the city centre. The Kokshetau Hills are part of the Kazakh Uplands located in the northern Kazakhstan. The Lake Kopa lies to the south of the Bukpa Hill. The hill is a prominent feature of Kokshetau’s skyline. It is surrounded by residential suburbs. In winter, Bukpa often has a covering of snow.
History
In the summer of 1827, the construction of the Kokshetau settlement began at the foot of Bukpa Hill.
In 1847, the construction of the St George's Church was completed on the north-eastern slope of the hill. However, in 1875 the church was dismantled and moved to the city centre of Kokshetau.
Gallery
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Bukpa Hill, perhaps Kokshetau's best known hill, c. 1880.
In literature
Kokshetau hills are mentioned in lines of the book of Anastasia Tsvetayeva's Starost i molodost (Old Age and Youth, 1988):
- "…Did someone write about the fact that the close mountains interfere, and the distant ones (the nearby hills) help to live? The hills have embraced Kokchetav in a semicircle, they console it: we are here, we are around, we protect it from the cold, emptiness and infinity ... "
