Tashkent - a city with a wonderful past and well worth exploring its environs

I had been to Tashkent in 1983 and my lasting memory of it was they sold awesome sweet melons! I had brought back 16 of them, as instructed by my wife, and she had thoroughly enjoyed each one of them. Of the city, I recalled nothing so we went with a totally fresh look. As always, I like to spend a minimum of three full days, packed with sightseeing, so we cover all the most important sights and events. In separate blogs, I have written about our excursion to the Chimgan Mts and Charvak reservoir - a Tashkent day trip; A magical evening with the Alisher Navoyi Opera; the Museum of Art - a unique private public gem; and Uzbek weddings - taking a peek into a modern trend. Do read them. So this blog is on the city itself.

We were staying at Hotel Uzbekistan – a massive Soviet style hotel with a zillion rooms!! The service was the pits, the room quality was equally bad but we had no choice as that’s where the group was staying!! But the food was really good in the restaurants. Now, in case you did not know, the currency exchange was different from the regular Govt rate.... which changed by the time we returned to Tashkent for Part 2 of our stay!! So here you have our tour leader giving me a large bucketful of local currency for a few dollars. On 5^th September 2017, it all changed to half the amount. The touts and bellboys were out of business as the hotel officially opened an exchange counter in the hotel.... which had never happened before.

The name Tashkent is derived from the Turkish word "tash" (stone) and the Persian word "kent" (city), meaning "city of stones". Some say the Sogdian word "tschatsch", meaning "place on a hill".  Tashkent is the capital and the most cosmopolitan city in Uzbekistan. It is known for its tree-lined streets, numerous fountains, and pleasant parks.  Since 1991, the city has changed economically, culturally, and architecturally. 

New development has superseded or replaced icons of the Soviet era. The largest statue ever erected for Lenin was replaced with a globe, featuring a geographic map of Uzbekistan. Buildings from the Soviet era have been replaced with new modern buildings. The "Downtown Tashkent" district includes the 22-story NBU Bank building, an Intercontinental Hotel, the International Business Centre, and the Plaza Building. The Tashkent Business district is a special district, established for the development of small, medium and large businesses in Uzbekistan. In 2007, Tashkent was named a "cultural capital of the Islamic world" by Moscow News, as the city has numerous historic mosques and significant Islamic sites, including the Islamic University. 

Due to the destruction of most of the ancient city during the 1917 revolution and, later 1966 earthquake, little remains of Tashkent's traditional architectural heritage. Tashkent is, however, rich in museums and Soviet-era monuments.

This is a one-storey private residence of Nikolai Konstantinovich Romanov, who was a grandson of Emperor Nikolai I, and who was exiled by his royal parents to Tashkent in 1877 to live there until his death in 1918.The Prince Romanov’s residence was built in "modern" style. The elegant building was richly decorated with carved grids, unusually shaped windows, towers and other decorative elements. The duke was a keen hunter and the front entrance to the private residence was decorated with bronze figures of deer and hunting dogs. There was a large garden laid out by the famous Tashkent botanist and pharmacist I.I. Krause. Particular attention was given to the interior design of the palace. The halls of the private residence were lined with dark oak, decorated with carved cornices and golden paintings. From the main hall, the three doors led to the apartments of the prince and his wife. The residence housed a billiard room, library, dining room and a Japanese garden. The Prince was extremely popular in the local community. He opened the first cinema theatre in the city and a bakery, built a ducal soldiers’ suburb in the city’s centre, laid irrigation canals in the Golodny Steppe. During the years spent in Tashkent, he amassed a unique collection of antiques and books, later bequeathed to the city. After his death, the building housed the Museum of Art’s of Uzbekistan, then Museum of Antiques and Jewellery of Uzbekistan, and in Soviet times it was used for the Palace of the Pioneers. At the end of the XX century, the building was restored and is now used as the Reception House of the MFA of Uzbekistan.

Our group walked down from the hotel straight to the park with the large statue of Emir Timur. Then further south, we came across a vendor renting cycles. There was a large art alley with artists painting and lots of artworks on sale. Very few buyers.          On our way to a fine dining restaurant on our last evening, we came across this round monument. I can’t recall what it is but I did like its design and style. 

Independence Square has the most beautiful fountains of the city. Upon declaration of independence in 1991, Lenin Square was re-named Independence Square (Mustakillik Maydoni) in 1992. The monument to Lenin was dismantled and an Independence Monument in a form of a globe with Uzbekistan’s borders outlined on it was installed instead. Many buildings were renovated and acquired a modern look. The central figure of the square is sixteen marble columns joined by a bridge, supporting the sculptures of storks who symbolize peace and quietness. The alleys with green zones and beautiful fountains from both sides stretch from the colonnade to the Independence Monument. Under the monument there is a figure of a woman holding a baby in her arms – a symbol of Mother-Motherland.

Telyashayakh Mosque or Khast Imam Mosque is beautiful. Like other mosques, you have to walk a lot inside to get to your destination! It contains the Uthman Qur'an, considered to be the oldest  Koran in the world. No photos allowed but they permitted me to photograph the caption there. Dating from 655 and stained with the blood of murdered caliph, Uthman, it was brought by Timur to Samarkand, seized by the Russians as a war trophy and taken to St Petersburg and only returned to Uzbekistan in 1924.It is kept in a glass enclosure. It is written on leather and must be about 2 ft per page and about 5” thick if closed ! There are blood stains on the pages as the Caliph was reading it when murdered! The book is rather large and must have been difficult to carry. 

The State Museum of Uzbekistan – we landed up not knowing that we would be in the middle of a major exhibit inauguration! We decided on taking an English speaking guide who was excellent. Halfway through, she made us go downstairs as the Director was going to inaugurate an art exhibit of a leading artist. I met her and the singer who had a voice like a nightingale!!  She invited me to her performance but my family weren’t keen on going !!

This is an outstanding modern museum with excellent captions. There are five floors full of fabulous artworks... not only paintings... you have carved wood, suzani hangings, textiles,  a major collection of art from the pre-Russian period, including Sogdian murals, Buddhist statues and Zoroastrian art, along with a more modern collection of 19th and 20th century applied art. There is the large collection of paintings "borrowed" from the Hermitage by Grand Duke Romanov to decorate his palace in exile in Tashkent, and never returned. Do not miss this museum if you are in Tashkent. 

Tashkent cafes and restaurants have Uzbek as well as European, Middle Eastern and Russian cuisines. Old part of the city is the centre of traditional local cuisine in Tashkent. Between Kukeldash Madrassah and Chorsu bazaar you find a great number of chaykhanas (café terrace with ayvans), cafes and eating houses, where you can snack a kebab, shaurma, Uzbek somsa and etc. Also you can try national dishes in family-run Uzbek houses. Close to the Yunus-Obod tennis court there is the huge Pilaf centre (Osh Markazi), where you taste delicious wedding Tashkent pilaf. You will be surprised with wide range of restaurants with Chinese, Italian, English, Japanese, Spanish, Korean and other cuisine. 

There are two parts to the city – the new and the old. Both are interesting and can occupy your time quite happily. I love the city especially as one can walk quite safely in both parts, with necessary common sense, as always.

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