"A city rebuilt" a Tashkent Travel Page by TheWanderingCamel

Just 40 years ago Tashkent was no more than a huge pile of rubble -the result of two major earthquakes and hundreds more tremors that destroyed the city almost completely. A tiny remnant of the pre-quake city remains in the alleys and lanes behind the Chorsu bazaar, virtually everything else you see here is due to a prodigious orgy of rebuilding, much of it done by forced labour. The workers have left behind an attractive city of wide tree-lined avenues ( usually all but deserted of traffic) that is far more appealing than any reading of a guidebook would have you believe.
With its excellent museums, busy bazaar, shady parks, opera house, chaikhanas and public monuments there is plenty to see and do here so don't dismiss the capital of Uzbekistan (and the biggest city in Central Asia) as just another boring Soviet-era city. Allow yourself some time to both explore the city and relax into its quiet pace and charm.

leyle