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Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and largest city in Central Asia, and a visit here is a mix of historical sights, modern buildings and true metropolitan experiences. Ever since the Silk Road, the place has been an important strategic location on the caravans’ routes between China and Europe, and historically Tashkents role as a meeting place made it prosperous.
Tashkent is a metropolis whose neighborhoods and grand squares are connected by the subway from the time of the Soviet Union, which in itself is an attraction with contemporary designed stations in local style and inspiration. The city plan above the metro is characterized by wide streets and boulevards and large squares in the new district dating from the Russian and Soviet times.
Independence Square and Amir Timur Square are the two central squares, and are internally connected by Broadway with shopping, cafes and some of the major buildings in Tashkent. At Amir Timur Square there is an equestrian statue of national hero Amir Timur, while Independence Square is home to the Independence Monument.
Tashkent is also known as a very green city with many large parks, which are beautifully landscaped for taking a walk in the many urban oases. Close to the modern center you find Tashkent’s Old Town, where there are mosques and Koran schools.
Amir Timur National Museum is a museum dedicated to Uzbek and Central Asian history under Amir Timur and the dynasty he founded. The museum was opened in 1996 on the initiative of President Islam Karimov.
The round museum building was constructed with a classic oriental dome. The interior decoration matches the exterior with marble columns and other impressive architecture. On the walls there are, among other things, frescoes of scenes in Amir Timur’s life and of parts of Uzbek history.
In the museum’s exhibitions, there are distinguished depictions of Amir Timur and the Timur dynasty. There are many effects and storytelling, such as scripts, weapons and coins. At the museum you can also see a copy of the world’s oldest Koran, the Uthman Koran, the original version of which is also in Tashkent.
Uzbekistan’s State Museum of History is one of the country’s finest museums, and with a history dating back to the 1800s, it is also one of the oldest. There are countless effects in the museum’s collections, which in many ways depict Uzbekistan from early times to the present day.
In terms of time, the exhibition is divided from ancient times into the time of Amir Timur and the Timurids, the following centuries and the khanates of Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand, as well as more recent times from the 19th century. You can see important archaeological finds along with collections of coins, photographs and much more.
The museum building was opened in 1970 as Tashkent’s museum for the head of state Lenin. The architecture stands elegantly as a grand Soviet building with local inspiration. In this way, the ornamentation of the facade cladding is an interpretation of the Uzbek panzhara, which is used as sun protection.
Mustaqillik maydoni or Independence Square is the name of Tashkent’s largest square, which for a large part can almost be regarded as a rigorously arranged park with greenery, trees and paths.
From 1865, the square was home to the governor-general of the Turkestan fort, and when it was later demolished, the large square was built. Centrally, you can see the silver structure of the Independence Arch, which marks the official entrance to the square and to the monuments you can see here.
The monuments consist of Uzbekistan’s globe with the name Independence Monument and a memorial to those who fell in the 20th century World War II. It consists of a statue of a mother mourning her two sons who fell in battle. At the statue, an eternal flame burns for the approximately 400,000 fallen Uzbeks, and this installation can be seen in the northern part of the square. The monument replaced a Soviet monument to a soldier with the same significance.
In Uzbekistan’s Soviet era, the square was the center of major events such as the May Day celebrations and military parades in the city such as Victory Day on May 9. As the biggest spectator at these events was Tashkent’s large statue of the head of state Lenin.
The TV Tower in Tashkent is the city’s tallest building, and it is an impressive structure that stretches 375 meters into the air. The tower was built in the years 1978-1985, and when it opened it was the third tallest tower in the world and the tallest in Central Asia.
The tower has an observation platform at a height of 97 metres, and from here there is an excellent view of the capital. There is also a restaurant in the tower, from which you can of course also enjoy the view.
This museum is among Tashkent’s most interesting in terms of effects from the rich Uzbek culture. The colorful and interesting exhibition offers, among other things, costumes and carpets from the 19th century to the present day. The museum opened in 1937, and it is set in a beautiful setting in the form of buildings that were built at the end of the 19th century.
For example, you can see Uzbek national costumes and costumes, which are a well-known part of the country’s culture, traditions and handicrafts. They are characterized by being light and extremely brightly coloured.
The men’s clothing consists of the chapan suit, which is worn with a belt, which, depending on the occasion, can be particularly beautiful and produced in, for example, velvet and silver. Add to this long leather boots. The women’s clothing is usually tunic suits and wide trousers. On special occasions, such as holidays, elegant jewelery is worn with the clothes.
Colors and patterns traditionally indicated social status, affiliation or other, and thus the suits were an integral part of the country’s culture. The headgear is one of the most important parts of the costumes, and the so-called tubeteika is the traditional hat worn by women, men and children alike.
Today, the traditional costumes are only worn on special occasions, and therefore a visit to the museum is a good opportunity to get to know this part of Uzbek history.
In addition to suits and other clothing, there are ceramics, patterns, wall paintings and much more to see at the museum. In terms of construction, it is not least the central room of the historic residence, which impresses with its exquisitely detailed and colorful decoration.
Almost exactly in the middle of Tashkent, the Prince Romanov Palace is located as a pocket in time between many of the city’s modern buildings around the Mustaqillik square. The mansion was built in 1891 for Nikolai Romanov, who was Tsar Nicholas I’s grandson. The style was, after the time, quite sumptuous with the use of classy materials both externally and internally. Alexei Benoit was responsible for the design.
Nikolai Romanov had been sent into exile in Tashkent in 1877, and he lived here until his death in 1918. He was enterprising and did a lot for the development of Tashkent, which made him popular in the Uzbek area and among the Uzbeks.
After being the residence of Nikolai Romanov, the house was converted into various museums before becoming the seat of the local Soviet pioneers. At the end of the 20th century, the mansion was renovated and made into the official residence of the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan.
Amir Timur Square is the heart of Tashkent, and in the middle of the square there is an equestrian monument from 1996 of Amir Temur, Uzbek national hero. Timur lived 1336-1405, and as a warlord he founded the Timurid dynasty and subjugated colossal lands under him through many campaigns, starting from the current Uzbek area.
The square was laid out in its original form by Imperial Russia in 1870 as a park in the new Tashkent that the Russian city planners and architects wanted to create. At that time, the square was called Konstantin Plads after General Konstantin von Kaufman, who was the first Russian Governor-General of the Empire’s Turkestan.
Von Kaufman was also the first to adorn the square where Amir Timur now stands as a statue. Throughout the Soviet era, several statues replaced each other before the current one was inaugurated. From 1917 there was a monument to free workers here. It was replaced in 1927 by a monument to the decade of the Russian Revolution, and from 1947 the head of state Stalin stood here. The last statue before the current one was one of Karl Marx, which was put up in 1968.
This is Tashkent and Uzbekistan’s most important monument to the country’s independence. It was erected in 1992 on the same pedestal on which the city’s colossal statue of Lenin had previously been enthroned. The top of the monument is now a globe showing Uzbekistan’s borders, a manifest sign of independence.
The now historic Lenin statue was erected in 1936, and with its 30 meters it was the tallest of the many Lenin statues that were erected not least in the Soviet Union. With the dissolution of the union, Tashkent’s statue fell in favor of the current globe.
Tashkent’s Clock Towers are the names of two well-known towers that were built in 1947 and 2009 respectively. They stand today as two of Tashkent’s landmarks. The idea for the bell towers came from the watchmaker I.A. Ayzenshteyn, who brought the town hall clock from East Prussian Allenstein (Olsztyn). He only had the clockwork because the town hall itself had been destroyed during World War II battles.
The city government of Tashkent issued a competition for a tower in which the German clockwork could hang, and the result was the tower from 1947. The new tower was built as a copy of the first, and they now form a fine building ensemble.
In the tower buildings, exhibitions of various effects have been arranged. These include jewellery, costumes, ceramics and paintings, all of which give a good impression of Uzbek craftsmanship.
Khoja Akhrar Mosque is also called the Friday Mosque. It is the largest of its kind in Tashkent and the largest in the country outside the city of Samarkand.
The mosque’s prehistory goes back to the Arab invasion of the area in the 700s and 800s, when the fire-worshippers’ Tashkent was laid in ruins. In 819, the local leader of the area came to the ridge where the mosque now stands and decided that his new Tashkent should be established precisely from this place. So it was, and therefore this place on the outskirts of the center of Tashkent is the Muslim-religious center of the city.
Over time, a mosque was built here. The first was completed in the middle of the 15th century, which happened after the contribution of Khoja Akhrar, after whom the mosque is today named. During an earthquake in 1868, the mosque of the time was destroyed, so it was decided to build a new one. The result was a large mosque, which was completed in 1888 after donations from, among others, the Russian Tsar Alexander III.
Through the decades of the 20th century, the mosque fell into disrepair, eventually standing as ruins. In 1997, it was decided to build a completely new mosque rather than carry out a reconstruction, and thus the current building was erected. With its location and three domes, it is a distinctive landmark in this quarter.
Kukeldash Madrassa is a Koranic school in the religious complex that also includes Tashkent’s great Friday mosque, the Khoja Akhrar Mosque. The madrassa’s history goes back to 1570, when it was built by the governor Dervish Khan, who was also known by the name Kukeldash.
From the time of its construction, the Kukeldash Madrassa was a Koranic school, but this had to change several times. In the 18th century, the fine building was set up as a caravanserai for commercial travellers, who thereby had a hostel in the city. In the 19th century, the building gained military weight as the fort of the leading khans, and until 1865 public executions took place here.
The madrassa has been partially rebuilt several times. Earthquakes destroyed part of it in both 1868 and 1886, when the beautiful portal had to be rebuilt. In the latter half of the 20th century, the place was also renovated several times, so that today it stands beautifully with the classic inner courtyard surrounded by both living rooms and schoolrooms. Added to this is the large portal, which is the architecturally dominant element of the building.
The name Kukeldash refers to the fact that the governor Devish was a milk brother of the contemporary leader. They were not brothers by blood, but grew up together and thereby shared milk.
Chorsu Bazaar is Tashkent’s large food market, where the local trade is voluminous and rich in experience for visitors. Uzbekistan’s climate results in quantities of fruit, vegetables and other things, and you can of course take a closer look and taste this during a visit under the bazaar’s characteristic large blue dome.
Chorsu Bazaar is one of the largest bazaars in Central Asia and its history goes back centuries. In the bazaar area, there are still older buildings, but the main attraction is the goods themselves and the atmosphere.
Alisher Navoi Park is one of the well-visited green oases in the Uzbek capital. The park was laid out in the 1930s and was completed in 1937. You can enjoy various monuments, buildings and facilities such as lakes and pools on a walk here.
In the park you can see the Children’s Railway, which arose as a proposal in 1936. After great support for the project, the track was inaugurated on 5 August 1940 with orchestral playing of the Internationale. After an expansion in the 1950s, the track reached a length of 1,700 meters and there was a lot of equipment that operated here. Today, the track is still in use with both theoretical and practical training for the young people who drive the trains between the two stations.
Tashkent’s metro is the city’s underground train network. It was opened as the first metro in Central Asia and as the seventh in the Soviet Union, where the rules required cities of a million to have a metro system.
The metro was built according to the classic Soviet pattern, with three intersecting lines and very deep stations. The first line was put into service in 1977, while the following lines were opened in 1984 and 2001.
Metro construction started in 1968, and the stations, not least from the Soviet era, are very finely decorated in their own way. Parts of the metro thus stand as a kind of vernacular palaces, as is not least known from the Moscow metro. The oldest line is the red, Chilonzor, between Sabir Rakhimov and Amir Tmur Xiyoboni stations, but the rest of the red and the blue Ozbekiston lines are also worth seeing.
Hazrat Imam Mosque is a religious complex of buildings, which consists of both mosques, a Koranic school, a mausoleum and a distinguished library, where the world’s oldest preserved version of the Koran is located. The complex and mosque are named after the first imam of Tashkent, Hazrat Imam, whose tomb was located in the area.
The Hazrat Imam Mosque itself is a relatively new building, built in 2007. However, the style is that of traditional mosque buildings from the 14th century. You can also see the Barak Khan Koran school from the 1530s, the interior of which is finely decorated with stylistic geometry.
Immediately north of this madrassa is the mausoleum of Abu Bakr Kaffal Shashi from 1542. Kaffal Shashi was a poet and philosopher and died in the 9th century. The mausoleum marks his final resting place, and around this particular mausoleum the entire current building complex spread over the years.
The old Koran is the so-called Uthman Koran, which is believed to have been initiated by Caliph Uthman in the year 651. The Koran eventually came to the city of Kufa in present-day Iraq, and from here it was possibly Amir Timur who took it to his capital Samarkand after a conquest. Until 1869, the Koran was in a mosque in Samarkand. Here it was given to the Russian Governor-General Konstantin von Kaufman, who passed it on to the Imperial Library in Saint Petersburg.
The Koran returned to Tashkent in 1924, after Lenin had previously given it to Russian Muslims in the city of Ufa. The Koran is on display in a former mosque, which in itself is a sight to see with its beautiful decoration.
The area is also architecturally interesting because you can experience the country’s different building styles in the same place. Khiva’s minarets stand as the tallest in the complex, while Samarkand’s fluted domes and Bukhara’s smooth blue domes are distinctive elements architecturally borrowed from these places and the styles of their rulers over the centuries.
Immediately south of the facility, in the nearby street, you can see a single blue dome that seems to belong to the complex around the Hazrat Imam Mosque. It does not, but it is an old construction. Originally it was built as the roof of a shop that profited from the traffic to the mosque. Today, the dome is integrated into and thus part of a residential building.
The Ascension Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox cathedral, and together with the surrounding buildings, it forms one of Tashkent’s most elegant building ensembles.
The church in its original form was founded in 1871, but since then it has been both closed, reopened and reconstructed. In the first decades of the Soviet era, the cathedral was used as, among other things, a warehouse, and it was only after the end of the Second World War that the church was given back to the Orthodox congregation.
In the years 1958-1960, the church was almost completely rebuilt after decades of decay and destruction. In the 1990s, its separate standing bell tower was added again, and again around the year 2010 the facility was recreated. It stands very beautifully today, including the interior of the church.
Tashkent’s botanical garden belongs to the country’s Academy of Sciences, and it is therefore part of the work of this research institution. For visitors, a magnificent park and garden await. There are more than 4,000 plants here, and they adorn the garden’s divisions in different geographical areas, with Central Asia certainly being one of the most interesting regions, as you can see local flora here. The garden was opened in 1920 and is worth a stroll in all seasons.
Samarkand is a city that exudes a great atmosphere taken from the history books about the Silk Road and Amir Timur’s great kingdom. All over the city there are magnificent traces of the ruler’s time in the form of beautiful Islamic style buildings, and some of Central Asia’s finest architecture can be enjoyed in the Uzbek city.
Registan is the centerpiece of the Samarkand that has been inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage list for many years. Registan is the most famous place in Uzbekistan and perhaps even throughout Central Asia. Three spectacular madrasas stand around the square, each lavishly decorated with the familiar blue tiles in rich variations in their geometrical patterns.
Gijduvan is a smaller city in the Bukhara region. Gijduvan is known for being an enterprising trading town with many talented artisans, whose pottery stands as probably the most famous part. You can thus visit workshops where ceramics are produced and hand painted according to traditional methods and patterns.
In terms of buildings, Gijduvan is the place where the famous theologian from the 12th century, Abdulkhalik Gijduvani, is buried. It has come about that the scientist and king Ulugh Bek founded and built one of his three famous madrassas here. The other two are located in Bukhara and Samarkand respectively.
Ulugh Bek was unusual in that he became king with a background as a skilled scientist, and knowledge was the reason for the establishment of his schools. Here, students had to strive for new knowledge, and the facilities themselves were classically built with two floors, one of which was housing for students, and the other was designed as classrooms.
The madrassa in Gijduvan was built from 1437, and it still stands beautifully in Gijduvan’s central square. Over time, the top floor of the Koranic school has disappeared, which happened after one of the many earthquakes that have shaken Central Asia over time.
Next to Ulugh Bek’s madrassa, you can see a beautiful minaret that was built with strong inspiration from the well-known Kalyan Minaret in Bukhara. The minaret here in Gijduvan is however somewhat smaller than the one in Bukhara. Next to the minaret is the local mosque.
Bukhara is a magnificent city that is one of the highlights of the historic Silk Road that linked Europe with Asia. The trade routes passed through Central Asia, and Bukhara was one of the most important cities on the route through present-day Uzbekistan. To this day you can enjoy a lot of the Silk Road history in the magnificent sights in the city center.
Bukhara is located in the middle of the desert, and out of almost nowhere a beautiful city rises, where some of the world’s most beautiful Islamic buildings can be seen. The silhouette consists of not least the Kalyan Minaret as a landmark with a number of the distinctive light blue domes surrounding it
Saqichmon ko’chasi
Shota Rustaveli ko’chasi
Ahmad Donish ko’chasi
O’zbekiston shoh ko’chasi
Sayilgoh ko’chasi (Broadway), Mustafo Kamol Otaturk ko’chasi, Boxoro ko’chasi, O’zbekiston shoh ko’chasi
Aquapark
Amir Timur ko’chasi 107
Tashkent-Land
Amir Timur ko’chasi 107
Toshkent hayvonot bog’i
Bog’ishmamol ko’chasi 232
Alisher Navoiy bog’i and O’zbekistan temir yollari
Bunyodkor shoh ko’chasi, Baynalmilal
Toshkent teleminorasi
Amir Temur shoh ko’chasi
Temir yo’l muzey, Vokzal
The city of Tashkent is one of the oldest settlements along the Silk Road, and it is mentioned as early as the 100th century with a history that goes back to time. The city was called many different names in Persian, Chinese and other language sources that mention it. It was the earliest from the 8th century that the name Tashkent was used.
In early times the name Chach was used, which came from a military camp that had been in this place for centuries before the birth of Christ. The name eventually became Chachkand. The name Tashkent is a development of this, and Tash is of Turkish origin, while kent comes from Persian; overall, Tashkent means the stone city. Chach or Tashkent developed relatively quickly, not least during the Kushan period through the 200-300s.
Islam entered the region and thus also Tashkent was conquered by Islamic tribes and troops in the 7th century, thereby establishing the Muslim faith of the Uzbeks. The Islamic Arabs also brought new cultural influences, and among the influences was also the architectural direction, which is still seen today. In the following centuries, further development took place in the city, which was based, among other things, on raw material production and trade in the area.
In 1219, Tashkent was conquered by Mongols under the leadership of Genghis Khan, and at that event large parts of the city were destroyed. It took time for Tashkent to resurrect, but not least because of its good strategic location. By the same century, the city had thus grown to become the largest on the Silk Road’s Central Asian passage.
With a good location on the area’s trade routes, Tashkent developed over the centuries from the 13th century as other cities in the region; eg Bukhara and Samarkand. The Silk Road caravans made their way past Tashkent, and it meant the construction of many caravan serials, which were hotels of the time, bathing facilities, shopping venues and other services that served the industry around the travelers. Crafts also evolved, which materialized, among other things, in prestigious buildings such as Koran schools and mosques, which shot up to a large extent.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Tashkent had a population of about 100,000, and it was considered the most prosperous city in Central Asia. This was due not least to a booming trade with Russia.
However, the economy got a crack after 1809, when Tashkent was incorporated into the Kokand khanate, which had been established in 1709 when the Shaybanid emir Shahrukh declared the eastern region of Uzbekistan independent of the emirate in Bukhara. With a new ruler in the capital Kokand, Tashkent had to pay high taxes to the Khanate.
The Russian empire, with the Tsar as regent, expanded in present-day Uzbekistan in the 1860s, when Central Asia was established as Russian Turkistan with general governors and military presence. Tashkent became part of Turkistan in 1865, with Mikhail Chernyajev’s troops of just 3,000 being successful in the campaign, expanding the empire’s borders considerably.
In 1867, the Turkmen government was established with Konstantin von Kaufman as the first general governor. Tashkent became the capital of the area, which overcame Samarkand the following year. Russia brought new developments in the form of railways built between Russia and Central Asia and across the current Uzbek territory. The railways brought trade and new settlements, and with it also new neighborhoods and institutions were built according to Russian-European model; this applied not only in Tashkent, but also in other cities such as Samarkand.
Tashkent continued its progress under Russia’s rule, and new developments came with the railroad reaching Tashkent in 1897. The railway was initially the Transcaspic Railway, which connected the Central Asian territories with the city of Krasnovodsk, the present Turkmenbashi, on the east coast of the Caspian Sea. Only nine years later, Tashkent, and thus much of Central Asia, became associated with European Russia when the railroad over the steppes between Orenburg and Tashkent became operational in 1906.
At this time, the population had grown to over 160,000, and they could also enjoy new trams in Tashkent, which had started riding horses with traction in 1901.
The Russian revolution in 1917 also included Uzbekistan. Initially, Russian Turkistan was established as a Soviet Republic named Turkistan’s Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. However, it had come to battle in the swells of the Russian Revolution. Bolsheviks had established Turkestan Soviet, while not least a Muslim council met in the city of Kokand and tried to establish Turkestan Autonomous Republic as a competitor to communist Turkistan. The fighting between the two groups continued until the 1920s with the Bolsheviks as victorious.
Turkestan’s ASSR was divided in 1924 into Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, from which Tajikistan was separated as a new Soviet republic in 1929. It was led by Josef Stalin, and the division followed ethnic lines as far as possible. In 1925, the SSR of Uzbekistan officially became a republic in the Soviet Union with Samarkand as its capital; however, this status passed to Tashkent in 1930. At that time, more than 300,000 lived in the city.
World War II also came to Uzbekistan in the form of, first and foremost, an overall Soviet struggle against the German invasion. In addition, there was a great deal of industrial development and accompanying migration, as industries from the war-threatened and hardened western parts of the Union were moved to Uzbekistan, among others. Population groups that were supposed to have sympathy for the Axis powers were also moved to this, which included, for example, Koreans, Chechens and Crimean Tatars.
On April 26, 1966, Tashkent was hit by a devastating earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale. About 78,000 houses became ruins and 300,000 of the city’s inhabitants became homeless, and it was especially the old and poorly constructed houses in the old town that fell to the quake.
From many places in the Soviet Union and from other countries, aid was sent to the city, which also needed immediate reconstruction, first and foremost the many citizens without a roof over their heads. Already in 1970, over 100,000 new homes had been built, and Tashkent was rebuilt following an impressive Soviet city plan with wide boulevards, large squares, large single-story buildings and monuments that belonged to the Union.
Tashkent was the fourth largest city in the Soviet Union after Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev, and as such the city was, naturally, the regional center for trade, industry, education and so on. The population increased to over two million, and one of the visible signs of the development was partly the many new residential neighborhoods and partly the establishment of the Tashkent metro, which opened in 1977. Since then, the metro has expanded several times.
In 1991, Uzbekistan became independent with the third largest population in the countries of the former Soviet Union; only surpassed by Russia and Ukraine. Independence created a need for some new institutions for the new state apparatus, which partly took over the roles and buildings of the political bodies of Uzbekistan’s SSR.
A changed center in Tashkent has since been shot up. Former buildings such as the country’s supreme Soviet have been rebuilt to the Senate, and much new ones such as Uzbekistan’s parliament building are newly constructed. The town plan is still impressive with wide boulevards, large squares and monuments, which have now partly changed in an Uzbek context.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Overview of Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and largest city in Central Asia, and a visit here is a mix of historical sights, modern buildings and true metropolitan experiences. Ever since the Silk Road, the place has been an important strategic location on the caravans’ routes between China and Europe, and historically Tashkents role as a meeting place made it prosperous.
Tashkent is a metropolis whose neighborhoods and grand squares are connected by the subway from the time of the Soviet Union, which in itself is an attraction with contemporary designed stations in local style and inspiration. The city plan above the metro is characterized by wide streets and boulevards and large squares in the new district dating from the Russian and Soviet times.
About the Whitehorse travel guide
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Almost exactly in the middle of Tashkent, the Prince Romanov Palace is located as a pocket in time between many of the city’s modern buildings around the Mustaqillik square. The mansion was built in 1891 for Nikolai Romanov, who was Tsar Nicholas I’s grandson. The style was, after the time, quite sumptuous with the use of classy materials both externally and internally. Alexei Benoit was responsible for the design.
Nikolai Romanov had been sent into exile in Tashkent in 1877, and he lived here until his death in 1918. He was enterprising and did a lot for the development of Tashkent, which made him popular in the Uzbek area and among the Uzbeks.
After being the residence of Nikolai Romanov, the house was converted into various museums before becoming the seat of the local Soviet pioneers. At the end of the 20th century, the mansion was renovated and made into the official residence of the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan.
Amir Timur Square is the heart of Tashkent, and in the middle of the square there is an equestrian monument from 1996 of Amir Temur, Uzbek national hero. Timur lived 1336-1405, and as a warlord he founded the Timurid dynasty and subjugated colossal lands under him through many campaigns, starting from the current Uzbek area.
The square was laid out in its original form by Imperial Russia in 1870 as a park in the new Tashkent that the Russian city planners and architects wanted to create. At that time, the square was called Konstantin Plads after General Konstantin von Kaufman, who was the first Russian Governor-General of the Empire’s Turkestan.
Von Kaufman was also the first to adorn the square where Amir Timur now stands as a statue. Throughout the Soviet era, several statues replaced each other before the current one was inaugurated. From 1917 there was a monument to free workers here. It was replaced in 1927 by a monument to the decade of the Russian Revolution, and from 1947 the head of state Stalin stood here. The last statue before the current one was one of Karl Marx, which was put up in 1968.
This is Tashkent and Uzbekistan’s most important monument to the country’s independence. It was erected in 1992 on the same pedestal on which the city’s colossal statue of Lenin had previously been enthroned. The top of the monument is now a globe showing Uzbekistan’s borders, a manifest sign of independence.
The now historic Lenin statue was erected in 1936, and with its 30 meters it was the tallest of the many Lenin statues that were erected not least in the Soviet Union. With the dissolution of the union, Tashkent’s statue fell in favor of the current globe.
Tashkent’s Clock Towers are the names of two well-known towers that were built in 1947 and 2009 respectively. They stand today as two of Tashkent’s landmarks. The idea for the bell towers came from the watchmaker I.A. Ayzenshteyn, who brought the town hall clock from East Prussian Allenstein (Olsztyn). He only had the clockwork because the town hall itself had been destroyed during World War II battles.
The city government of Tashkent issued a competition for a tower in which the German clockwork could hang, and the result was the tower from 1947. The new tower was built as a copy of the first, and they now form a fine building ensemble.
In the tower buildings, exhibitions of various effects have been arranged. These include jewellery, costumes, ceramics and paintings, all of which give a good impression of Uzbek craftsmanship.
Khoja Akhrar Mosque is also called the Friday Mosque. It is the largest of its kind in Tashkent and the largest in the country outside the city of Samarkand.
The mosque’s prehistory goes back to the Arab invasion of the area in the 700s and 800s, when the fire-worshippers’ Tashkent was laid in ruins. In 819, the local leader of the area came to the ridge where the mosque now stands and decided that his new Tashkent should be established precisely from this place. So it was, and therefore this place on the outskirts of the center of Tashkent is the Muslim-religious center of the city.
Over time, a mosque was built here. The first was completed in the middle of the 15th century, which happened after the contribution of Khoja Akhrar, after whom the mosque is today named. During an earthquake in 1868, the mosque of the time was destroyed, so it was decided to build a new one. The result was a large mosque, which was completed in 1888 after donations from, among others, the Russian Tsar Alexander III.
Through the decades of the 20th century, the mosque fell into disrepair, eventually standing as ruins. In 1997, it was decided to build a completely new mosque rather than carry out a reconstruction, and thus the current building was erected. With its location and three domes, it is a distinctive landmark in this quarter.
Kukeldash Madrassa is a Koranic school in the religious complex that also includes Tashkent’s great Friday mosque, the Khoja Akhrar Mosque. The madrassa’s history goes back to 1570, when it was built by the governor Dervish Khan, who was also known by the name Kukeldash.
From the time of its construction, the Kukeldash Madrassa was a Koranic school, but this had to change several times. In the 18th century, the fine building was set up as a caravanserai for commercial travellers, who thereby had a hostel in the city. In the 19th century, the building gained military weight as the fort of the leading khans, and until 1865 public executions took place here.
The madrassa has been partially rebuilt several times. Earthquakes destroyed part of it in both 1868 and 1886, when the beautiful portal had to be rebuilt. In the latter half of the 20th century, the place was also renovated several times, so that today it stands beautifully with the classic inner courtyard surrounded by both living rooms and schoolrooms. Added to this is the large portal, which is the architecturally dominant element of the building.
The name Kukeldash refers to the fact that the governor Devish was a milk brother of the contemporary leader. They were not brothers by blood, but grew up together and thereby shared milk.
Chorsu Bazaar is Tashkent’s large food market, where the local trade is voluminous and rich in experience for visitors. Uzbekistan’s climate results in quantities of fruit, vegetables and other things, and you can of course take a closer look and taste this during a visit under the bazaar’s characteristic large blue dome.
Chorsu Bazaar is one of the largest bazaars in Central Asia and its history goes back centuries. In the bazaar area, there are still older buildings, but the main attraction is the goods themselves and the atmosphere.
Alisher Navoi Park is one of the well-visited green oases in the Uzbek capital. The park was laid out in the 1930s and was completed in 1937. You can enjoy various monuments, buildings and facilities such as lakes and pools on a walk here.
In the park you can see the Children’s Railway, which arose as a proposal in 1936. After great support for the project, the track was inaugurated on 5 August 1940 with orchestral playing of the Internationale. After an expansion in the 1950s, the track reached a length of 1,700 meters and there was a lot of equipment that operated here. Today, the track is still in use with both theoretical and practical training for the young people who drive the trains between the two stations.
Tashkent’s metro is the city’s underground train network. It was opened as the first metro in Central Asia and as the seventh in the Soviet Union, where the rules required cities of a million to have a metro system.
The metro was built according to the classic Soviet pattern, with three intersecting lines and very deep stations. The first line was put into service in 1977, while the following lines were opened in 1984 and 2001.
Metro construction started in 1968, and the stations, not least from the Soviet era, are very finely decorated in their own way. Parts of the metro thus stand as a kind of vernacular palaces, as is not least known from the Moscow metro. The oldest line is the red, Chilonzor, between Sabir Rakhimov and Amir Tmur Xiyoboni stations, but the rest of the red and the blue Ozbekiston lines are also worth seeing.
Hazrat Imam Mosque is a religious complex of buildings, which consists of both mosques, a Koranic school, a mausoleum and a distinguished library, where the world’s oldest preserved version of the Koran is located. The complex and mosque are named after the first imam of Tashkent, Hazrat Imam, whose tomb was located in the area.
The Hazrat Imam Mosque itself is a relatively new building, built in 2007. However, the style is that of traditional mosque buildings from the 14th century. You can also see the Barak Khan Koran school from the 1530s, the interior of which is finely decorated with stylistic geometry.
Immediately north of this madrassa is the mausoleum of Abu Bakr Kaffal Shashi from 1542. Kaffal Shashi was a poet and philosopher and died in the 9th century. The mausoleum marks his final resting place, and around this particular mausoleum the entire current building complex spread over the years.
The old Koran is the so-called Uthman Koran, which is believed to have been initiated by Caliph Uthman in the year 651. The Koran eventually came to the city of Kufa in present-day Iraq, and from here it was possibly Amir Timur who took it to his capital Samarkand after a conquest. Until 1869, the Koran was in a mosque in Samarkand. Here it was given to the Russian Governor-General Konstantin von Kaufman, who passed it on to the Imperial Library in Saint Petersburg.
The Koran returned to Tashkent in 1924, after Lenin had previously given it to Russian Muslims in the city of Ufa. The Koran is on display in a former mosque, which in itself is a sight to see with its beautiful decoration.
The area is also architecturally interesting because you can experience the country’s different building styles in the same place. Khiva’s minarets stand as the tallest in the complex, while Samarkand’s fluted domes and Bukhara’s smooth blue domes are distinctive elements architecturally borrowed from these places and the styles of their rulers over the centuries.
Immediately south of the facility, in the nearby street, you can see a single blue dome that seems to belong to the complex around the Hazrat Imam Mosque. It does not, but it is an old construction. Originally it was built as the roof of a shop that profited from the traffic to the mosque. Today, the dome is integrated into and thus part of a residential building.
The Ascension Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox cathedral, and together with the surrounding buildings, it forms one of Tashkent’s most elegant building ensembles.
The church in its original form was founded in 1871, but since then it has been both closed, reopened and reconstructed. In the first decades of the Soviet era, the cathedral was used as, among other things, a warehouse, and it was only after the end of the Second World War that the church was given back to the Orthodox congregation.
In the years 1958-1960, the church was almost completely rebuilt after decades of decay and destruction. In the 1990s, its separate standing bell tower was added again, and again around the year 2010 the facility was recreated. It stands very beautifully today, including the interior of the church.
Tashkent’s botanical garden belongs to the country’s Academy of Sciences, and it is therefore part of the work of this research institution. For visitors, a magnificent park and garden await. There are more than 4,000 plants here, and they adorn the garden’s divisions in different geographical areas, with Central Asia certainly being one of the most interesting regions, as you can see local flora here. The garden was opened in 1920 and is worth a stroll in all seasons.
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