Attractions of Khiva Ichan-Kala

Roman Catholic Church, Tashkent
Christianity found its way into the territory of Central Asia in the first centuries AD due to the development of the Great Silk Road. Fugitives, travelers and missionaries were moving together with trade caravans following by one of the most famous ancient routes, and who propagated their religion in the outlandish countries.
However the first Catholic metropolitan cities and archdioceses along the Silk Way were set up much later – in XII-XIII centuries when the Vatican and China established diplomatic relations.
An active propagation of Catholicism in the countries of Central Asian region began in the second half of XIX century and in the beginning of XX century and it was connected with Russian expansion in the East. Thus, according to statistics by 1917 there lived 11, 000 Catholics in Turkestan, 7,000 of which lived in Tashkent. They were Poles, Lithuanians, Germans, French, Letts from among the military men of the tsarist army whom the government sent for servicing rather far off from their native land: to the Far East, Turkestan and Caucasus. There were also many exiles, Western-European prisoners of war and fugitives in Turkestan.
The first official Catholic clergyman in Turkistan from 1883 to 1885 was father Ferdinand Senczikowsky, who made every effort to build a Catholic chapel to hold the masses in Tashkent.
From 1902 to 1917 it was Iustin Benaventura Pranaytis who became a Curator of the Turkestan region. During this period, churches in Ashkhabad, Kyzyl-Arvat (Turkmenistan), Fergana, Samarkand and a temporary church-chapel in Tashkent were built. The construction of the Tashkent Big Catholic Church near the Catholic chapel began in 1912. Soldiers-Catholics many of which were skilled specialists were taking part in the construction of the Church.
The progress of construction work was too slow and in 1917 a revolution began upon which father Boleslaw Rutenis, Pranaytis’s heir was making attempts to finish construction of the Tashkent Church. But he never managed it, due to the change in the political situation in the country, Bolsheviks’ pressure and a shortage of financial funds. Soon, Rutenis being unable to stand such difficulties left the post of Senior Priest. After Rutenis’s voluntary termination of service, the church services for the remained Catholics were held secretly by father Joseph Sowinski. In 1937 he was arrested charged in anti-soviet propaganda and shot.
And what happened to the Church uncompleted? The Church was nationalized in 1925. And during the Soviet period it housed different organizations: hostels of the Electrical Cable Plant and Republican Obstetric School, administration and storehouse of Medtekhnika. The building of the church was reconstructed several times and eventually was abandoned. Naturally, by that time neither sculptures, nor valuables from the church were saved.
In 1976 owing to a resolution of the Government, the building was restored and handed over to the Ministry of Culture of the UzSSR, and in 1981 it received the status of a landmark and historical site in Uzbekistan.
An official activity of Catholic organizations in Uzbekistan only resumed in 1987. A Catholic parish was opened in Fergana first and three years later the Catholic Church was opened in Tashkent, whose Senior Priest became father Kszisztof Kukulka, a Franciscan from Poland, who was appointed in 1997 by the Pope John Paul II to be Ordinary of the "Missio sui Juris" in Uzbekistan. From 1992 after proclamation of independence of Uzbekistan, the Church was returned to the catholic parish in Tashkent. And in January 1993 the restoration of the Church began, whose management was performed by Architect Sergey Adamov and Designer Alexander Ponomaryev; all organizational issues were assumed by Kszisztof Kukulka. At that time, in the course of construction, the old Catholic chapel building located in the House of Polish Society at the construction site was included in the construction plan of the new church. The construction of the Catholic Church of Holy Jesus was completed in 2000, that is 88 years later from the moment of lying of the first foundation stone. The church at once was announced as one of most beautiful and distinguished for the East architectural buildings of modern Tashkent.
It should be noted that decor and interior of the church are very impressive. The church was build in Gothic style, its building interior is lined with marble and granite, its furniture and doors made of fine wood. The candleholders, candlesticks, arty-crafty fence and banisters etc, were made by Blacksmith V. Pilipyuk. The ground floor of the church houses the premises of the crypt-chapel (the same which was built under Pranaytis in the beginning of the XX century), John Paul II and St. Antonio Halls.
The first floor houses a solemn big hall where Sunday masses are held. An honorable place in the hall is devoted to an altar with a tabernacle, decorated with 2-m sculpture of Jesus Christ. Rows of massive wooden benches for the congregation stood in spaces between the huge columns. There is a 26-voiced organ – a gift from the Bonn Parish of St. Paul under the church domes. The hall is decorated with pictures of scenes from the Bible, colored leaded lights and Catholic symbolic. To the right of the altar there is a confessional where the Catholic may have the sacrament of confession.
The masses in the Tashkent Catholic Church are held regularly in 4 languages – Russian, English, Korean and Polish.
Along with the construction of the church in Tashkent in the beginning of 90-s of the last century, Catholic parishes were opened in other large cities of Uzbekistan – Samarkand, Bukhara and Urgench. The growth of the Catholic congregation in Uzbekistan and efforts of the Tashkent Catholic clergyman were discerned in the Vatican and in the year of 2005, the Pope John Paul II upgraded the status of the "Missio sui Juris" in Uzbekistan to the Apostolic Administrature and appointed the first Bishop in Uzbekistan - father Erzy Maculewicz. Nowadays the Senior Priest of the Tashkent Church is Lucian Szimanski. Catholic clergymen and monastic Franciscan-Brotherhood as well as missionaries from the Order of Divine Love (sisters of Mother Teresa of Calcutta) are permanently serving in Uzbekistan.

Chorsu Bazaar, Tashkent

Bazaar is the heart of every oriental city, the center of public life, breadwinner of the whole city. Since the dawn of time bazaars appeared on the intersections of trade roads, on big squares of cities. They played role of main places of the city, where merchants, traders and common people gathered to discuss important news, to know prices, to have a rest in cozy choykhana (Uzbek café) eating pilaf and drinking green tea. Also bazaars were the places of main entertaining events of the city – theatrical performances.
Tashkent Bazaar Chorsu, the age of which is more than hundred years, also was always located on the main square of the city Eski-Juva. Old bazaar constructions destroyed and went bad, but the traditional architecture remained unchanged – domed large premises. This was the only way to protect oneself from heat and dust in terms of hot and dry Asian climate.
The tendency of construction of such bazaars with a complex of covered premises began in XI century and went on up to XIII century. In our century this bazaar inherited land and premises of previous centuries. The modern trade complex is built with a glance of architectural features and traditions of urban development of previous epochs. Today it is the unique complex of trade halls crowned with interrelated blue domes. The central part of bazaar is the main magnificent domed construction, patterned with oriental ornament, with diameter of nearly 300-350 meters. It is the winter three-storey building of bazaar with elevator system. The lowest storey is basement passages with numerous back rooms. Middle and upper floors are the system of shops.
On counters of this oriental Bazaar you will find fresh fruits, amber-colored dried fruits, toasted bread (lepeshka), fresh-killed meat, kazy (horse meat sausage), and what not… And all these things are so attractive that one can’t stand to pass by them. Next to bazaar there are choykhonas, where you can taste amber yellow pilaf, fragrant shashlyk (grilled meat), hot shurpa (soup). Refreshing yourself you can go to handicraft shops, where masters of applied art sell hand-made souvenirs.

Hast-Imam Ensemble, Tashkent

Hast Imam Square (Hazrati Imam) is a religious center of Tashkent. Hast-Imam is located in the old town, within neighborhoods with the old wattle and daub houses that have experienced earthquake of 1966.
This complex appeared near the tomb of one of the first imam of Tashkent city, the famous scientist, scholar of the Koran and Hadith, poet and craftsman Hazrati Imam (full name - Abu-Bakr Muhammad Kaffal Shashi).
On the territory of the Hast-Imam, there are few arhitectural monuments, including the madrasah of Barak-Khan, Tilla Sheikh Mosque, mausoleum of the Saint Abu Bakr Kaffal Shashi and the Islamic Institute of Imam al-Bukhari, where future preachers are taught. The Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Central Asia, led by the Mufti, is also placed there.
Moreover, the complex has a rich library of oriental manuscripts. The world famous Quran of Caliph Uthman - Ottoman has been preserved here. Ottoman Koran is the primary source of Islam holy book that was written in the middle of VII century.
An ancient manuscript, consisting of 353 parchment sheets of very large size with the original text of the Quran for centuries was kept in the treasury of the Caliphs (consistently in the cities of Medina, Damascus and Baghdad).
From Baghdad in the days of Tamerlane Ottoman Koran was in Uzbekistan, then (already in the nineteenth century) had time to visit St. Petersburg, in the hands of Russian scientists, who have proved its authenticity, and the newly migrated through Ufa in Central Asia.
The new building of the mosque Hazrat Imam have been erected in 2007. The structure of the mosque consists of the mosque itself, and two minarets, which architecture is kept in the style of the XVI century. Thus, the entrance area of ​​the mosque is decorated with splendid work of woodcarvers, representing various woodcarving schools of Uzbekistan.
Great job also has been done by landscape designers. In particular, there had been imported many exotic trees, shrubs and flowers from different countries and planted on the territory of the complex. And during the spring, summer and autumn, beautiful storks freely walk there. At night, special lighting of the buildings causes a feeling of attendance in the world of the anchient oriental tales.

Abubakr Kaffal-Shashi mausoleum, Tashkent