Although Kyrgyzstan has renamed the museum in Bishkek's Ala-Too Square the National Historical Museum and filled it with exhibits documenting the country's natural and political history, many still refer to it as the "Lenin Museum." And it's not hard to see why, in these photos by Mirian Toktaliev of RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service. With its grand bronze sculpture of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin leading the revolution and a mural on the ceiling of all the nationalities of the Soviet Union attending a wedding party, Kyrgyzstan's Soviet past is hard to ignore. (22 PHOTOS)
Bishkek's Lenin Museum Keeps Soviet Realism Alive
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Vladimir Lenin leads the revolutionary forces.
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Symbolic representatives of all of the Soviet Union's nationalities attend a wedding party.
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