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Fergana
valley
With
eight million people (a third of
Uzbekistan's population" the
valley is the most densely settled
area in Central Asia, and thoroughly
Uzbek - 90% overall and higher in
the smaller towns. This is a kind
of Uzbek heartland in terms of language,
population and tradition (the people
of Andijan are said to speak the
purest form of Uzbek). Fergana valley
is a big flourishing oasis with
a fine climate. It is also known
as a "Golden Valley".
If Samarkand is known as a "Pearl
of the East", Fergana is famous
as a "Pearl of Uzbekistan".
In Fergana valley you can find small
sleepy towns with many hidden treasures,
such as "City of Angels",
natural silk, great fruit and vegetable
plantations, the forests of mulberry
trees and the wide cotton plantations.
There are a lot of beautiful canyons
with Tien-Shan spruces and fir-trees
there. Kokand - one of the most
famous cities in Uzbekistan, formerly
the capital of the powerful Kokand
Khanate which once dominated the
whole Fergana valley.
Fergana.
This is the valley's least ancient
and least Uzbek city. With the central
streets shaded by huge plane and
poplar trees and dotted with pastel-plastered
tsarist buildings, Fergana is called
among locals as a "Sleeping
beauty".
Fergana's most appealing attraction
is the bazaar, its good natured
Uzbek traders leavened with Korean
and Russian vendors selling home-made
specialties.
Margilan.
Often treated as if it were an appendage
of Fergana, Margilan in fact came
first by a couple of millennia,
having been around since at least
the 1st century BCE. Margilan has
long been known in Central Asia
for its silk; Uzbekistan's most
famous silk factory, the Yodgorlik,
is here. The factory employs traditional
methods of silk production, unlike
the vast and increasingly moribund
Margilan and Khanatlas mass-production
factories that are also on the city.
It is possible to see the whole
production process here, from steaming
and unraveling the cocoons to the
weaving of the dazzling khanatlas
("King of satins") patterned
fabric. The factory has recently
diversified into carpet making and
embroidery.
Rishtan.
This mainly Tajik town near the
border with Kirgizstan, 50 km west
of Fergana, is home to a group of
master potters utilising the fine
local clay. Their ceramics use mostly
traditional designs on a white background
in shades of green and cobalt. Rishtan
pottery center - famous potters
and ceramic products of the region
are came from Rishtan. They are
also well known in whole Central
Asia. In local ceramic art there
is a special style, named Rishtan
style.
Kokand
– was the capital
of Kokand khanate in the 18th and
19th centuries, and in those days
– second only to Bukhara as
a religious centre in Central Asia,
with at least 35 madrassahs and
hundreds of mosques. But if you
walk the streets today you will
find only a polite, subdued Uzbek
town, its old centre hedged by colonial
avenues.
• Khudoyar Khan Palace
(XIX c.) – the Palace
of last khan Khudoyar. The Palace
with 7 courtyards & 113 rooms,
was completed in 1873, just three
years before tsar'’ troops
arrived.
• Norbutabey madrassah (XVIII
c.) – one of two
acting madrassahs was closed in
1799 and reopened again.
• Djuma mosque (XIX c.) –
The city’s Friday mosque reopened
in 1989 after decades of neglect
& today accommodate up to 10,000
worshippers.
• Modari Khan mausoleum (XIX
c.) – built in 1825
for the khan’s mother.
• Dakhma Shokhon (XIX c.)
– “Grave of
King”, the tomb of the Khan
and other family members.
Andijan –
dates back to at least 9th century,
but it claim to historical fame
is as the birthplace of Zaheriddin
Babur. Today it is Uzbekistan’s
main oil-producing region, and the
town with the most traditional bazaar
in the valley.
• Juma mosque &
Madrassah (XIX c.) –
the only building to survive the
1902 earthquake.
• Regional Museum
– with the usual historical
exhibits and examples of local fauna
& flora
• Babur Literary Museum
– occupies the site of royal
apartments where Babur lived and
studied.
Kuva. In 1979 the
remains of a large Buddhist temple,
dating from the 4th to 7th century
and destroyed by the Arabs, were
excavated at Kuva.
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