Walk Through the Khazret Imam Complex and Touch Centuries of Central Asia
Step off Zarkaynar Street into the Khazret Imam Complex and you move between worlds built centuries apart. A mausoleum from the 16th century stands near a mosque completed in 2007; a madrasah from 1857 houses a Quran written before most of the world had heard of Islam. The complex spreads across two kilometres north of the city centre (Metro Gafur Gulom), assembled piecemeal over five hundred years, so it feels less like a single planned courtyard and more like a living conversation between generations of builders and believers.
- Enter the Barak-Khan Madrasah (1532) on the west side to see two mausoleums—one for Suyunchxoʻjaxon, the first Shaybanid ruler of Tashkent, and one intended for Barakh-Khan himself, though he was buried elsewhere.
- Walk to the Moyi Mubarek Madrasah (1857), where you can see the world's oldest Quran, written in 644–648 AD. Open daily 09:00–16:00; 40,000 som per person.
- Stand in the Hazrati Imam Jome Mosque (built 2007), which recreates traditional style in modern scale, or move south to the Tellya Sheikh Mosque (1890–1902), where the architecture spans a century of change.
- Visit the mausoleum of Abu Bakr Muhammad Qaffol Shoshiy in the northwest corner. Qaffol Shoshiy died in 976 AD and was himself a locksmith, scholar and holy man—the mausoleum was rebuilt in 1542 after the original tomb was lost to time.
- The complex is free to enter daily 09:00–21:00, though individual buildings have separate admission fees.
Just south of Khazret Imam, the brand-new Islamic Civilisation Center opened in March 2026 as a grand museum with 2-hour guided tours only (English, Russian or Uzbek); 310,000 som for foreigners as of April 2026. Nearby, still under construction but open to walk through, stands a reconstructed "neighborhood" meant to show what a city looked like in centuries past.
Explore the Old Town's Madrasahs and Bazaars
The area west of the river around Chorsu Bazaar holds the oldest streets and some of Tashkent's most rewarding stops. Much is modern now—the boulevards hum with traffic—but the higgledy-piggledy lanes further north still carry something of old-town life, though new development is transforming them rapidly.
- Visit Kukeldash Madrasah (1570) on Navio Prospect (Metro Chorsu), a yellow-brick structure built by Kulbobo Kukeldash, the Khan's foster brother. It was once a caravanserai, fort and museum; since the 1990s it has housed students again. Walk the courtyard ringed with hujras (pupil cells), darshakona and a mosque in the corners. Open daily 08:00–18:00; 15,000 som for adults.
- Stand on the raised ground of the Dzhuma Mosque (also called Khoja Ahror Valiy Mosque), built in 1451 and still prominent from the street beside Kukeldash.
- Wander Chorsu Bazaar itself, which in 2026 was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of ten modernist and historic buildings in and near Tashkent. The bazaar is the old town's commercial heart and a place where the rhythm of daily life plays out in haggling, sampling and buying.
- Walk north through the smaller streets to find the Eshon Guzar mosque at the south end of Karasaray Street—a distinctive redbrick design that marks an older Tashkent.
Enter the Burial Complexes and Remember the Centuries
Two burial complexes offer quieter moments and the chance to read the names and dates carved into stone. Both were shaken by the 1966 earthquake that flattened much of Tashkent; what survives speaks to what mattered most.
- Shayhantaur, accessible daily 09:00–16:00 from its east side off Abdulla Qodiriy (Metro Alisher Navoiy or Paxtakor), is a small, free complex where only 3 of 16 monuments survived the earthquake. The Sheihantaur Mausoleum holds the 13th-century Sheikh Hovendi at-Tahur (rebuilt in the 14th century and altered since). Nearby, the Khavendi Takhur Sheikh Mausoleum (14th century, rebuilt in the 18th and 19th) stands plain within. The Kaldyrgach-biy Mausoleum a few metres north has a pyramidal dome evoking Kazakh steppe tents; Kaldyrgach was a 15th-century ruler, though the name also belonged to the 17th–18th-century statesman Tole-biy. The Yunus Khan Mausoleum, 100 metres west, lies within the grounds of the Islamic University and is rarely accessible to visitors—Yunus Khan (1415–1487) was a descendant of Genghis Khan and grandfather of the Mughal emperor Babur, though his actual burial place remains unknown.
- Abdulkasim Madrassa (1850) stands at Bunyodkor (Metro Milliy Bog) and now operates as a crafts outlet, honouring the scholar Abdulkhasim Khan.
See Museums of Art, History and the Soviet Era
Tashkent's museums hold everything from the city's pre-Islamic past to its role as a cultural crossroads. Several were designated UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2026, recognizing their modernist architecture as well as their contents.
- The State Museum of the Temurids (Metro Amir Temur Xiyoboni or Yunus Rajabiy) opened in 1996 as part of Uzbekistan's post-1991 search for national identity. The museum honours Timur (1336–1405), the nomadic warrior who united much of Central Asia and whose name in the West became Tamerlane, the lame—a reference to injuries from childhood livestock-rustling. Open Tuesday–Sunday 10:00–17:00; 40,000 som for adults. The building itself is as much political statement as museum.
- The Museum of Applied Arts (Metro Kosmonavtlar), housed in a 19th-century merchant's mansion at Rakatboshi 15, shows traditional crafts and textile arts in a charming, human-scaled space. Open daily 09:00–18:00; 25,000 som for adults.
- The Tashkent Polytechnic Museum (200 metres south of Amir Temur Park) displays antique and Soviet-era cars. Open Tuesday–Sunday 09:00–18:00; 20,000 som for adults.
- The Art Gallery of Uzbekistan (Metro Mustaqilliq Maidoni) shows contemporary Uzbek artists in a modern building. Open Tuesday–Saturday 11:00–17:00; 50,000 som for adults.
Visit the City's Older Religious Buildings
Tashkent's religious architecture spans faiths and centuries. The Holy Assumption Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox structure built in 1871, was shuttered under Soviet rule, restored in 1945 and enlarged in the 1990s with its bell tower rebuilt in 2010. It stands at Avliyuata 91 (Metro Toshkent), open daily 08:00–20:00.
The Sacred Heart Cathedral, a Roman Catholic church at Taraqqiyot ko'chasi, began as a chapel for Polish prisoners of war in 1884. A larger structure rose from 1912, but the Bolsheviks suppressed it. During the 1930s, the parish priest held secret masses here until the communists executed him. After decades of secular use and decay, the cathedral was rebuilt from 1993, re-consecrated in 2000 and elevated to cathedral status in 2005. It is open Monday 09:30–12:30; Tuesday–Saturday 09:30–12:30 and 15:30–18:00; Sunday 09:00–18:00. Entry is free.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church (Sadyk Azimov 37) was built in 1899 to serve the city's German community. It served as warehouse, opera studio and concert hall under communist rule before being re-consecrated in the 1990s. It is open only for Sunday services 10:00–12:00.
For newer religious architecture, the Minor Mosque (Little Ring Road, Metro Bodomzor) opened in 2013–2014 in traditional style with gleaming white marble and multiple minarets. It is open 24 hours and free to enter. The Kukcha Mosque (Sheikh Zayniddin Jami Mosque) at Mannon Uygur (Metro Bunyodkor) was rebuilt in the 1990s and houses the 16th-century mausoleum of Sheikh Zayniddin, a 12th–13th-century Sufi holy man whose shrine was rebuilt in the 19th century.
Tashkent sits at a crossroads as it has for two thousand years, and a day here is a day spent moving between worlds—Soviet modernism and medieval madrasahs, Islamic scholarship and Orthodox bells, bustling bazaars and quiet tombs. Begin your visit by settling on what draws you most, then follow the metro lines and streets to find it.