Bishkek Wedding Palace

The official religion of the Soviet Union was no religion. State secularism promoted adherence to socialism, not a church or a God. So where did star-crossed lovers go to profess their vows without religious ceremony? Did they just scrap the wedding?

The Soviet Union had an answer. If religion couldn’t provide weddings, then the state would do it itself. The Soviet Union constructed hundreds of state-sponsored wedding venues, including in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

Bishkek Wedding Hall’s grand staircases and long aisles mimic the grandeur of cathedrals and mosques but swap religious iconography for state-approved images of Kyrgyz folklore and manual labor. Its design – distinctively brutalist, yet uniquely futuristic – aims to create the awe of love and ceremony without invoking the divine.

Over 80,000 happy couples have registered since the hall was constructed in 1987. Though years of underfunding have taken their toll on the building, polished Hummers still idle on the curb, white doves take their brief flights before returning to their cages, and newlyweds pose for photos beneath Bishkek’s testament to state-sanctioned love.