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Tashkent

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Overview

Sprawling Tashkent (Toshkent) is Central Asia’s hub and the place where everything in Uzbekistan happens. It's one part newly built national capital, thick with the institutions of power, one part leafy Soviet city, and yet another part quiet Uzbek town, where traditionally clad farmers cart their wares through a maze of mud-walled houses to the grinding crowds of the bazaar. Tashkent is a fascinating jumble of contradictions that's well worth exploring over several days.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • The State Museum of History of Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

    History Museum of the People of Uzbekistan

    Tashkent

    The History Museum is a must-visit for anyone looking for a primer on the history of Turkestan from its earliest settlements 5000 years ago to the present…

  • People shop in the meat section of the Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

    Chorsu Bazaar

    Tashkent

    Tashkent’s most famous farmers market, topped by a giant green dome, is a delightful slice of city life spilling into the streets off the Old Town’s…

  • Museum of Applied Arts of Tashkent.

    Museum of Applied Arts

    Tashkent

    The Museum of Applied Arts occupies an exquisite house full of bright ghanch (carved and painted plaster) and carved wood. It was built in the 1930s, at…

  • State Fine Arts Museum

    State Fine Arts Museum

    Tashkent

    The four floors of this excellent museum walk you through 1500 years of art in Uzbekistan, from 7th-century Buddhist relics from Kuva and the Greek…

  • Earthquake Memorial

    Earthquake Memorial

    Tashkent

    The New Soviet men and women who rebuilt Tashkent after the 1966 earthquake are remembered in stone at the Earthquake Memorial just north of Mustaqilik…

  • View of Hazrati Imam Mosque and Muyi Muborak Madrasah (Moyie Mubarek Library Museum) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

    Moyie Mubarek Library Museum

    Tashkent

    The primary attraction of Khast Imom square is this library museum, which houses the 7th-century Osman Quran (Uthman Quran), said to be the world’s oldest…

  • Minor Mosque, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

    Minor Mosque

    Tashkent

    The striking new Minor Mosque, also known as the white mosque for the colour of its marble, is proof that Uzbekistan still knows how to create sublime…

  • Entrance to Assumption Cathedral in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

    Assumption Cathedral

    Tashkent

    It's impossible to miss the handsome gold onion domes, pastel blue walls and 50m bell tower of the impressive Assumption Cathedral. Built in 1958 and…

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