Our day was filled with a cultural tour of Tashkent and so much information from our Tour Director/guide, Mark! If I retain 25% of it, I’ll be lucky!
We started by visiting the memorial to the April 26, 1966 massive earthquake that destroyed most of Tashkent – the population at the time was about 500,000 and the majority lost their homes.
Next was Khast Imam Square, religious center of the city and home to many exquisite mosques, monuments and madrasas (centers of Islamic learning) dating back to the 15th century. We went in to the blue-domed Barak-Khan Madrasa with its imposing gateway and visited Muyi Muborak Madrasa which houses one of the oldest copies of the Koran dating from 644-648.
The Tillya Sheikh mosque – the Friday mosque – can hold 5,000 worshippers. The original mosque was built in 1890 by Tillya Sheikh ATA, who was selling sheep on his journey from China. He built the mosque with his profits and gifted it to the people of Tashkent.
From this square we could see the almost completed Center for Islam and study in Central Asia.
The Chorsu Bazaar with its bright green dome and acres of spices, sweets, meat, fruit and vegetables, fresh-baked breads and crafts was a treat for the eyes. We tasted some of the bread fresh out of the tandoor oven!
The Museum of Applied Arts contained exhibits of Uzbek handicrafts.
A diplomat during Tsarist times had his residence built by masters from all over Uzbekistan to create a home decorated with alabaster and carved wood.
Our group is only 14 people and we enjoyed a delicious home-cooked traditional meal in a home.
After lunch we took a ride on the metro (built shortly after the 1966 earthquake) and stopped at three different stations.
Our last stop was Amir Temur Square once dominated by a huge statue of Karl Marx.
And the opera house – the only one in Central Asia.
