Time stopped at 5:23am, April 26^th 1966 in Uzbekistan. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale and a depth of 3-8 kilometers shook the nation and shattered the infrastructures of Tashkent. The damage was so extensive that it rendered 300,000 homeless.

One of the most determinative events of Uzbekistan in its 20^th century history was the great earthquake of 1966. Tashkent, being the epicenter of the earthquake, suffered the most severe damage. In Tashkent’s plans for post-earthquake reconstruction in 1968, the metro system was going to be a major addition in the city’s new infrastructure. The Soviets believed in good transportation systems that would boost its production capacity, and cities of over one million in population had metro systems. Tashkent’s metro was the first such infrastructure in Central Asia. Construction began in 1972 and the first line completed in 1977.

The Construction of Tashkent’s Metro System

Because the Uzbeks intend the metro system to be a bomb shelter in the case of bombings, the metro system was not open for photography until very recently, in 2018. It was fortunate that we were able to take photographs of the beautiful artwork inside the station when we visited.

Although built in the typical Soviet style, the metro stations were injected with some impressive creative elements. Many of the metro stops in the system are adorned with artwork, or other forms of in-station design. Some of them create a classic 19^th century ambiance in the station. Some are clean and modern. Others show a sense of the postmodern. The special stations stand clearly for the positive role of art in the urban space.

At the time when these artworks were installed, the idea itself was forward-thinking. Needless to say, the same in the Moscow metro precedes that of Tashkent’s. Moscow’s metro art is also much more elaborate. Unlike the grandiosity of Moscow’s metro art, Tashkent’s metro art is humbler but not less sophisticated. From these artworks a sense of vitality emanates, lifting the mood of an otherwise mundane, drab and perhaps typically cold atmosphere in Soviet-style underground, which at every turn expresses an old-fashioned sense of modernity. They were there as artistic expressions in a public space, the celebration of Uzbek history and culture, and not so much a show of national or ideological prowess. Well, at least no longer.

As such, the metro stations of Tashkent are themselves tourist attractions. It was also perfect for the rainy day that greeted us in our first day in Uzbekistan.

Each trip of the metro costs a flat fee of 1,400 SOM (price as of July 2023). You will receive a paper ticket, and you must scan the code on the ticket when you enter the station.

For ease of reference, I include here the touring map of the special stations. If you go through the metro system quickly, it is possible to visit all the special stations within two to three hours.

We probably went through some of them in an hour or so.

Some of my favorite metro art:

The art-adorned metro stations of Tashkent are all unique. Each of them has a specific theme and features the work of different artists.

Pakhtakhor Station

Of all of the metro art that we have seen, I like the one at Pakhtakhor Station the most. I like it for the characteristically Uzbek blue / teal theme. Beautiful mosaics line the walls of the station in colorful patterns. The pattern is supposed to show cotton, which was a major crop of Uzbekistan. Indeed, cotton is featured in more than one metro station.

Alisher Navoi

Alisher Navai was a Timurid poet, writer, statesman, linguist, mystic and painter. As a turkic he wrote (mostly) in his own Chagatai Turkic, and he preferred Turkic over Persian, which was in prevalent use in Central Asia during the 15^th century. His poetry was revolutionary for Chagatai literature. Finally, a whole region Navoi in Uzbekistan is also a tribute to him.

In the station, the bas reliefs depict scenes in one of Navoi’s literary works, Khamsa. They are five of the writer’s epic poems in Turkic. The sculptor Ahmet Shaymuradov spent four years creating these bas reliefs.

I include here an excerpt of Alisher Navoi’s poem, taken from Uzbekistan: The Golden Road to Samarkand:

Truthful speech is the wise man’s token.

But some truths wisely remain unspoken.

Learning is knowledge acquired in small portions,

As drops make the rivers that flow to the oceans.

Seek from others the knowledge they own,

Never rely on thy powers alone.

Gafur Gulom

The Gafur Gulom metro station is named after Uzbek writer Gafur Gulom. During the Soviet times, he was Uzbekistan SSR’s National Poet. The artist behind the stately columns in the station is S. Sultonmuradov. The artwork on the walls are very interesting, perhaps almost in the veins of the futuristic.

Chilonzor

Chilonzor features large, round and ornate chandeliers hanging from its ceiling.

The artwork of choice in the station are clay renditions of traditional aspects of Uzbek life, the rustic joy of farming.

Mustaqilliq Maidoni

Mustaqilliq Maidoni is the station that leads to the Independent Square of Tashkent, formerly Lenin Square. According to Angelo Zinna’s blog post, “The flooring is decorated with star patterns symbolizing the successes of Soviet space explorers.”

I certainly did not understand the significance of the patterns on the floor, as one would naturally be drawn immediately to the 19^th century-esque elegance that breathes in this station. Again, Angelo Zinna explains that the station was “built almost entirely with marble blocks coming from the Kizil Kum desert in Western Uzbekistan.”

Bodomzor

The Bodomzor Station began service in 2001 and perhaps that is the reason why its décor is in a notably different style as compared to the rest of the stations I have seen.

The station shows just lines that make some geometrical shapes. Along with the special lighting effect, these line create an ambiance that is so modern that it felt futuristic. It reminds me of a space station even.

Sources

Angelo Zinna, To See the Best Art and Architecture in Tashkent, Ride the Subway, Metador Network.

Calum Macleod, Uzbekistan: the Golden Road to Samarkand (2014).

The Wikipedia on Gafur Gulom Station of the Tashkent Metro.

The Wikipedia on Ali-Shir Nava’I, at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali-Shir_Nava%27i

Uzbek Travel, About Uzbekistan, Transport, Metro.

Nadezhda Dukhovny, The Times of Israel, Ancient and unique Uzbekistan: Alisher Navoi.

Hyperallergic, A Tour Through Tashkent’s Art-Filled Subway.

The bazaars are as much for the locals as they are for the tourists. The Chorsu Bazaar features a few distinct areas of a marketplace. There are stalls for dried goods and clothes, there are open-area stalls for knick-knacks and fresh fruits. And then there is the dome, where the covered market sells all kinds of butchered and preserved meats, and of course, the myriad-colored spices that exude a complex fragrance.

My first sightseeing in Uzbekistan was therefore a sensory tour. The familiarity of world-common daily goods juxtaposed the unfamiliarity of Uzbek-specific items. At every turn in the bazaar we would encounter this strangely stimulating experience of “I know this,” and then soon “but what is that?” From its dough to its bread, from its spices to its sweets, Chorsu Bazaar offered a variety of goods that suggests prosperity and abundance. We toured there wide-eyed for a good hour or so. And that was my first impression of Tashkent.

About the Chorsu Bazaar

Calum Macleod wrote in Uzbekistan: The Golden Road to Samarkand that Chorsu Bazaar “was the local bastion of capitalism throughout socialism’s tenure.” Surely, the Soviets laid their helping hands on the marketplace by giving it the famous dome, which was designed by architect Vladimir Azimov in 1980 as an example of Soviet modernism. But Chorsu’s history has gone far back in time. This very same bazaar was where ancient merchants traded their goods. Chorsu, meaning “crossroads” in Persian, was the very center of international trade in Tashkent.

Perhaps the Soviet hand on the Chorsu Bazaar ruined it for me. I was hoping for tents propped up by wooden staff in open-street stalls, with sacks and sacks of spices. There is that stereotypical image of Arabic / middle eastern culture, that the bazaar has this dimension of the exotic, where people haggle amidst donkey-riding merchants. Surely, even in the Middle East, I did not see that kind of scenery, but I was hoping that Uzbekistan being even lesser-known in the world would have “preserved” that imagined character of the ancient silk road.

Nope, for as long as the Soviets were there, the Chorsu Bazaar was modern, clean, orderly and, with the exception of that steely coldness, every bit like the wet markets of Hong Kong minus the dome. Although haggling is still expected, it certainly was not in the vicinity of cutting out half of the asking price.

Bread is the Staff of Life

We exited the dome and went ahead to another covered area. A lot of vendors were selling pastries and confectionaries. We came across a whole lot of Turkish-looking sweets, but I certainly was not familiar enough to identify any of them. They looked exceeding sweet to me, so taking them as literal eye-candies would suffice for my purpose.

The Uzbek bread is commonly served on the Uzbek table, especially during breakfast time. It has a hard and dry texture. As unleavened bread, perhaps it can’t be said to be delicious as much as it is for the purpose of filling the stomach. Yet when we were peeping in the large bakery in this section of the Chorsu Bazaar, the gentlemen there waved at us, “come in!.” We came to the rolling table for the dough, and then a really good look and picture-taking at the clay oven. The oven seemed to use gas as its source of heat. The workers simply slapped the kneaded dough onto the walls of the oven for a baked goodness. It smelled very good in there indeed.

Shashlik, Our First Course in Uzbekistan

Finally, we decided to grab a little something for lunch at the market. There was a large seating area for open-space dining. The aroma of charcoal-grilled meats was mouth-watering. We sat down at the section where a staff member was speaking English to us. Everybody was having a merry good time there.

Shashlik would be the excellent first introduction of Uzbek food for us. I think my friend ordered lamb and I ordered chicken, as I do not eat mutton. The Uzbek bread was toasted on top of our shaslik and served warm.

We also came across the Honym. The lady who spoke English told us that this is “Uzbek lasagna.” At first glance its red color indicated very hot and spicy, but it was actually a tomato base, just like the lasagna. The dough was a potato dough. The Honym is a common Uzbek food, but that would turn out to be the only Honym that I tried in this trip. This meal cost us 5 USD. It was actually a bit more expensive than we thought Uzbekistan would be. As it turned out, costs for food was generally more expensive than what we have budgeted for.

At this food market, the warmth of the Uzbek people really touched us. They were certainly very busy at this lunch hour. The English-speaking lady kept chatting up with us. They liked to ask us where we were from. When we say China, everybody knew what we were talking about.

Handcrafts at Chorsu Bazaar

At the Chorsu Bazaar there are some souvenir shops that are worth taking a look at. The most eye-catching items there were the tea pot sets. The colors and craftsmanship are distinctly Uzbek. The owner was generally asking for about USD $20 for each set. Needless to say, that would be quite a bit cheaper than the well-packaged ones you find at the airport souvenir shops. My advice is, when you see something that is the desire of your heart, buy. Once you head out to the other cities, you may not be able to find the same kind of goods even though they look similar.

The next stop was the Hazrati Imam Complex, and we would be walking there from the Chorsu bazaar.

Sources

Calum Macleod, Uzbekistan: the Golden Road to Samarkand (2014).

The Wikipedia on Chorsu Bazaar.