Tashkent's Chorsu Bazaar

Plus a mosque and a madrasah

I have made a point of checking out the bazaars in the various cities I have stayed in: their buildings may be relatively new, but they are a continuation of a trading activity that has been going on for centuries. They sell a huge range of clothes, household goods, produce, meat and sundries. I might buy the occasional bit of fruit or some nuts, but I’m not really there to shop. The Grand Bazaar in Kashgar invested heavily in new buildings without coming up with something I found impressive. Tashkent necessarily had to replace its main bazaar after the earthquake, and has come up with something truly awesome. It was apparently only built in the 1980’s, so I don’t know what they did in the preceding 20 years - maybe it was just an open air market? It’s called the Chorsu (or crossroads - fitting) Bazaar.

I don’t even get inside the bazaar and my attention is caught by these plates - they’re heavy and quite bulky, so not really practical to bring a set home! I am thinking I could squeeze in a tea bowl or two.

The bazaar covers quite a lot of ground, and has various bits to it, and several domes - this is what I see when I enter the Gold Market bit.

Since I obviously don’t know my way around, people are pointing out to me that I should go upstairs and show me the way. I find myself on the roof, used as a carpark, but there’s a road running beside it - they have obviously created some sort of warp in the earth’s fabric here. I like these buildings across the road - the shops are mostly made for fabricating small items, but there is also the occasional cake shop or cheese shop. Oh, and there’s a Lada estate!

Back across the road, there’s a big covered market where they sell vegetables, fruit, nuts and the like, as well as lines of stalls selling things - like melons.

There’s an onsite bakery, making non bread - I am invited inside to look around, but think it best to stand at the door.

Back the other side, where I came in, there’s a mass of stalls at ground level selling mostly clothes but there are a few places cooking food. Buried under all these rooves, making it quite hard to find, is the entrance to the subway - the only way I know to get back to my digs. The buildings in the distance look interesting - shall I explore?

I have actually been a little bit naughty, as I have hidden the main event from you. Most images of the Chorsu Bazaar feature its main dome, and it is really something.

Inside, there are two levels - running around the edge, like a circular mezzanine, is where you’ll get nuts, dried fruits and spices. Down on the floor, it’s a massive butchers’ area. The ceiling is best seen in the short video I filmed.

I fight my way through all the wee stalls, get lost, eventually find my way to the edge of the market to check out the building I had noticed. It’s the Juma (Friday) mosque - there’s been a mosque on this site since the 800’s, with several refurbishments and rebuilds along the way.

Beside it is something I had planned to see but didn’t realise was here - the Kukeldash Madrasah, built in the 1570’s. It’s had its share of troubles as well - they took all the bricks from the second floor to build another madrasah, it was destroyed in a 19th century earthquake and rebuilt. Surprisingly, it survived the 1966 earthquake. Also surprisingly, it became a museum of atheism, but it’s now back in business as a madrasah.

You wouldn’t want to go down those steps in a hurry, would you?

Cheers!