Tashkent

Tashkent

Tashkent city (a stone village) has a history of 2200 years. According to the historical sources Tashkent was founded at III century B.C. Since 1930 Tashkent is the capital of the Republic of Uzbekistan, separated from Tashkent region. The population is more than 3. 2 million. The city is located at 440-480 meters above sea level.

Khasti Imam complex

Khazret Imam Complex which consists of historical and architectural monuments is located in an old part of the city. The history of this complex is associated with a name of Abu Bakr Kaffal Shahi who was the first imam and preacher in Tashkent. Khast Imam is a major religious center, there is the residence of the Central Asian Islamic Religious Administration. In addition, there is a mosque Tilla-Sheikh (XIX c.), madrassah Barak-Khan (XVI c.) and the mausoleum of the saint Abu Bakr Kaffal Shashi (X c.). The complex also includes madrassas of Mui Muborak, which means "golden hair (or whisker) of the Prophet Muhammad." The building belongs to the XVI century. This madrassah keeps the world famous Koran of Caliph Othman of the VII century. This Koran is the primary source of the sacred books, written on the skin of a deer in the middle of the VII century and brought by Amir Timur (Tamer Lane ) at XIV c.

Independence square

Independence Square ( Mustakillik)- is the main area of Tashkent, where you can see a granite symbol of independence - a bronze bowl, symbolizing the globe with a symbolic representation of a shape on the maps of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Below of the obelisk monument there is a figure of a young woman with a baby in her arms. The northern side of the square is a park area, where there is an Alley of Glory and Memory. On both sides of the alley there are galleries with carved columns and tracery grilles where the 14 steles (the number of regions of the country) established a memory book in which are inscribed the names of all Uzbeks who died on the fronts of II World War. At the end of the alley there is a monument of the Sorrowful Mother and the eternal flame.

Amir Timur Square

Amir Temur Square is located at the center of Tashkent. The history of this area began in the XIX century, when Central Asia joined Tsarist Russia, and Tashkent was declared the center of the Turkestan Military District. At the center of the square you can see the monument of Amir Timur erected in 1996. Around the square there are the buildings of ancient gymnasiums (XIX c.) now the University of Law, the first bank (XIX c.), the hotel Uzbekistan, the clocks, the museum of Timurids history and Forum Palace (2009).

Residence of Knyaz Romanov

Residence of Knyaz Romanov was built in 1891 by the architects A.L. Benoit and V.S. Heinzelmann. It is located in the city center between Independence and Timur`s squares. Knyaz (Duke) Nikolas Konstantinovich Romanov was exiled to Central Asia after a scandal in a royal court of the Romanovs. He felt in love with Turkestan and he spent here all his life, executed in 1918 after a revolution. The palace built in a fashionable modern style is a two-storey building made with yellow bricks. It had a living room of Knyaz and his wife, a dining room, a library, a billiard room, a Japanese Garden and a small zoo gathering the animals living in this area. Nowadays the palace is a headquarter of the Ministry of foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan.

Kukeldash madrassah

Kukeldash is a nickname of the vizir (minister) Dervishkhan and it means (foster brother). He worked at the court of Tashkent Uzbek khans from Sheibanids dynasty. He built this madrassah in 1569. It was used as a caravanserai for foreign traders and as a fortress of Kokand Khanate governors. It was even used for executions, where from the top of the portal the guilty people were thrown. This madrassah is still active as a religious school.

Abdulkasim madrassah

Abdulkasim Madrassah was built in 1850 by Abdulkasim Khan, the great thinker of his time, one of the most interesting historical buildings, located in the southern part of old Tashkent. The madrassah is famous with a signing of peace treaty by Russian tsarist and local armies. The madrassah educated famous representatives of Uzbek literature such as Abdulla Kadiri, Munavvar Qori Abdurashidxonov and Abdurauf Fitrat. Today the building is used as crafts school center “Hunarmand”.

Sheikhantaur Ensemble

Sheikhantaur architectural ensemble was built around the mausoleum of a local Sheikh Havendi Takhur and it is one of the major historical religious ensembles of Tashkent. The mausoleum of sheikh who passed away in 1355 was built at XV c. at the same time near the mausoleum of Sheikh Havendi Takhur arose: from the north - a small centric mausoleum under conical dome dedicated Kaldyrgach-bey.

It was very important holy place and Uzbek aristocracy was buried there. One of the examples of royal mausoleums is a mausoleum of Yunuskhan, who created a strong Tashkent kingdom. These 3 buildings are the last monuments conserved from 16 historical sites of this architectural complex.

Tashkent TV Tower

Tashkent TV tower is the highest building in Central Asia. The total height of the tower is 375 meters, at the beginning of using in 1985 it was the fourth highest in the world. TV Tower Construction began in 1979 and was completed in 1981. In 1991, the Tashkent TV Tower entered to the Federation of Great Towers of the world, where it takes 9th place among more than 200 towers in the world. Today it is already in 11th place. The metal tower structure weighing more than 6,000 tons based on a powerful 11-meter foundation. With its total weight the construction is also very seismic it is able to withstand an earthquake of 9 points. The authors of this unique project are the architects Terziev-Tsarukov N.G. and Semashko Y.L., and engineers constructed a tower Morozov E.P. and Musheev M.D . The lobby of TV tower was decorated by the artist Buharbaev with mosaic panels made of semiprecious stones, marble and metal, in style of Florentine and Roman mosaics.

The monument of Courage

This monument was built in memorial of terrible earthquake measuring 8.3 points appeared in 1966. On the granite podium set cube of black labradorite, from one side you can see carved date: April 26, 1966. From the other side there is a carved clock face with arrows indicating the time - 5 hours 24 minutes. Crack splits cube that symbolizes the rift terra firma and continues to the foot of a bronze sculpture of a woman hugging her child and a man hiding them from the impact of natural disaster with his chest. At the background of the monument there are relief compositions depicting the restoration of Tashkent.

Zangi-Ata mausoleum

The history of this pilgrimage site is associated with the name of the famous saint Sheikh Ali Khoja Allas Zangi-ata. The byname Zangi – ata means “dark father” because of his dark skin. He lived at the end of XII century and at the beginning of XIII century and he was a follower of the great leader of all Turkic tribes in Central Asia of Sufi Akhmad Yasawi.

The mausoleum Zangi-Ata is located in 15 kilometers from Tashkent. In addition to the mausoleum the complex includes a mosque Namazgokh built in 1870 and the madrassah added in the XX century. The ensemble consists of three areas: a large garden, a complex of buildings of the XIV - XIX centuries, which include a mosque, madrasah, minaret and mausoleum Ambar-bibi.