We are at the Barak Khan Madrassah in Tashkent. I really should say that we are at the Hast Imam Square which is a religious center of Tashkent. It is located in old town within the area that was devastated by the 1966 earthquake. The main feature here is probably the Barak Khan Madrassah, at least in terms of architectural monuments. But the square has in important library, a mosque, two mausoleums within the madrassah, and other buildings. We asked about the huge open area here and were told that prior to the 1966 earthquake, it was all “earth housing”. It was all destroyed in the earthquake. So now they have a huge open square here.

You can see the Barak Khan Madrassah in the first photo. It’s decorated with unique mosaics and paintings. It has two mausoleums within it that were built before the construction of the madrassah. The madrassah is built of brick and topped with three blue domes. The gate and doors within are inlaid with ivory and non-ferrous metals. It was completed in 1532. It was also badly damaged in an earthquake in 1868.

After passing through the gate of the madrassah, you get to the inner court which you can see in the second photo. The courtyard was also quite large. As part of the project of restoration and preservation, the cells of the madrassah here were opened up for crafts workshops. They produce quite a number of different products, all for sale of course. You can see some paintings and clothing outside of some of the cells, formerly occupied by students at the madrassah.

If you were to walk to the left from the first photo and then turn around, you would see what you see in the third photo. In the back is a mosque and in front of that and on the right is a library. I believe that both of these were built in 2007 and yet, as you can see, they were constructed to maintain the authenticity of the older buildings. We went into the library which houses the world famous Quran of Caliph Uthman, or Ottoman Koran. It is the primary source of Islam holy book that was written in the middle of the 7th century. It’s an ancient manuscript consisting of 353 very large parchment sheets with original text. The Koran has a long and interesting history as it traveled from Medina to Damascus to Bagdad to St Petersburg and back. While under the control of Russia, Russian scientists evidently proved its authenticity. I can say, it looked very old.

In looking at the mosque in the back in the third photo, if you walked around to the other side, your view of it would be what you see in the fourth photo. Other than the green electronic information board just above the door, I would say that they did an excellent job of making this mosque appear to be very old. That’s sort of why I wanted to show this mosque. Not because it is old, but because most of what we saw in central Asia has been renovated due to conquerors or earthquakes or neglect. But they have done a good job in most cases – and much of it was done by the Russians.

If you go through the entry portal in the fourth photo, you would see what you see in the last photo. They really did a great job with the woodcarving and the work represents various woodcarving schools in Uzbekistan. The whole square area was also really nicely landscaped. It made it a very nice place to visit on a warm day.