Lesson uzbekistan’s pearl. The Ferghana valley

What to see in Kokand
The main part of the architectural wealth of Kokand belongs to the period of the Kokand khanate, to the 18-19 centuries. One of the most impressive sights can be considered the Palace of Khudoyar Khan, famous for his ferocity and tenacity of the ruler. This complex was built in 1871 and is a real magnificent Oriental Palace, as if from the fairy tales "one Thousand and one nights". In the middle of the symmetrical wide facade is a portal with a high pointed arch, on both sides of which and at the corners of the building are high minarets. The Palace has about 100 rooms, and the area it occupies is 4 hectares. More than 16 thousand builders worked on its creation literally under the lash, and the result was a surprisingly colorful building both outside and inside, richly decorated with ceramic tiles, with azure domes, mosaic arches and ornamental patterns everywhere. Now, alas, of the seven courtyards and a huge number of halls, only 2 courtyards and less than 20 halls have been preserved; but the Palace of Khudoyar Khan still impresses the imagination. Today it has a Museum of the history of the region.
A significant historical landmark can be considered Damai Shakhon, the Khan's tomb. The date of its Foundation is 1825, during the enlightened rule of Umarkhan, and since then there have been several tombs and sarcophagi where the rulers of Kokand rest. It is a low building with a beautifully finished facade, decorated with ornaments and wooden carvings, on which you can read surahs of the Koran in Arabic and verse lines authored by the Khan-poet. At the tomb built a mosque-ayvan, near the same is the cemetery. Another structure of the same kind is the beautiful Madari Khan mausoleum with a Central turquoise dome, also built in 1825. Unlike the ancestral Damai Shakhon, this tomb was intended exclusively for one burial: the mother of the ruling Khan — Umarkhan. The portal, also tiled, differs somewhat from other examples of Kokand architecture in its color scheme: it uses not only the traditional colors of white and blue, but also yellow-red and green patterns. Near the mausoleum, you can see a white stone monument erected in honor of the Khan's wife, Nadira, also a poet, who was executed by the Emir of Bukhara. The heritage of Kokand as a Muslim center is reflected in many preserved religious buildings, some of them striking in their appearance. Beautiful and graceful Jami mosque stands in the square to Corso. Destroyed by the Mongols, it was rebuilt in the early 19th century by Umarkhan, and to this day you can admire the artfully painted columns of ayvan and khanaka with a richly decorated vault.
Fine ganch carvings have been preserved on the walls of the mosque, and in the center of the courtyard stands a slender single minaret with a height of more than 20 m with a faceted dome. You can also see several old madrassas in the city. Norbuta-Biya madrasah, built in the 18th century, stands near the Jami mosque. This one-story, but powerful building with a double Central arch and chunky towers, which today serves its direct purpose-is an educational institution. The Emir madrassah, also built in the 18th century, boasts an exquisite mosque that tourists can view from the inside. And another small but interesting madrasa Kamol-kaki stands to the West of the Jami mosque. It was built in the first half of the 19th century from baked bricks and decorated, like other traditional buildings, with an ornamental portal. There is also an Orthodox Church in Kokand. The Church of our lady of Kazan was built in 1908, and the bells on the belfry were cast from old cannons. The largest of them was "General Skobelev", a bell weighing 300 pounds. After the establishment of Soviet power, the temple was destroyed, and a new one was built in 1945. A Museum opened in 1959 in his native house is dedicated to Khamza hakimzada Niyazi, a native of Kokand. This poet won some recognition during the Soviet period as a talented writer, playwright and musician, an expression of the people's will. And in the madrasa mien Hazrat, built in the late 18th century, today the Museum of Aminhuji Mukimi, a famous poet, is open. The Museum's exposition includes not only items related to the poet's work and khujra, but also items that are related to the local poetry of that time. In the early 20th century, various "capitalist" institutions appeared and flourished in Kokand. The buildings they occupied can still be seen on Sovetskaya street — for example, this is the "Russian-Asian Bank" built in 1910. Nearby is a stunning mansion Valyaeva businessman, the richest man in all of Turkestan. Now the mansion is occupied by the city administration. And opposite the mansion is the city Telegraph office in an equally old and interesting building. The city's ancient bridges are also notable. Thus, the Yalongoch-OTA bridge on the Kokand-say river, built of bricks, with arched spans, is covered with an interesting urban legend. Its name translates as "Naked dervish", since the bridge was built on the money that such a dervish collected alms. A similar story is related to the construction of the Charkhna-Kuprik bridge, funded by a simple spinning wheel: the name of the bridge is translated as "bridge of spinning wheels". The old Stone bridge also looks beautiful — so much so that Umarkhan posed on it for a photo.
Rishtan
Rishtan is a small town in the Ferghana valley, located 50 km from Ferghana. This is a half-Tajik and half-Uzbek city, which has been famous for its ceramics since ancient times. This is no coincidence, since there are rich deposits of red clay, as well as minerals and unusual vegetation that are used as natural dyes.
The appearance of Rishtan is attributed to the 9th-10th century. Even then, the settlement on the section of the Great silk Road attracted traders with exceptional examples of ceramics. Along the entire route of the legendary caravan route (from the Middle East to China), Rishtan products were in constant demand and well-deserved fame. Later there was the famous Kalandarkhana-a gathering place for wandering dervish philosophers. From Rishtan comes the great Islamic teacher of the 12th century, Burhanuddin marghinani. Rishtan, which was called kuibyshevo in 1937-77, still amazes with the abundance of potteries where hereditary potters work. Secrets have been passed down for generations from fathers to sons. On an industrial scale, Rishtan ceramics are produced at a local factory.