TASHKENT

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan. This ancient city was first known in the 2nd or the 1st century BC as a small settlement. By the time of the Arab invasion in the beginning of the 8th century AD it has already been a major caravan crossroads. The city got its present name Tashkent (or Toshkent - "the city of stone") in the early 11th century. The city was almost completely destroyed, nevertheless by the 14th century it was one of the largest and strongest fortresses of the Timuride's. Later in the second part of the 16th century, Tashkent joined the Bukhara Khanate and in the 1809 it became the part of the Kokand Khanate. After the country had gone under the Russian protection in 1865 the city became an important administrative, commercial and industrial center of the Central Asia. Tashkent was declared the capital of the Turkestan Autonomous SSR in 1918. After Turkestan had been split into several republics and up until 1930 the capital of the new Uzbek SSR was Samarkand. Then the status of Tashkent was restored.
The face of old Tashkent was changed greatly in one day. In April 1966 there was a massive earthquake and hundreds thousands of people were left homeless. To help these people many modern houses were built apart from the old city reconstruction.
Nowadays it is a well developed modern city with a number of theatres, universities, museums etc. There is a metro in Tashkent (since 1970). Walking around the city one may see the remains of the ancient town and fortresses dated from the 6th to the 15th centuries. There are as well several ancient mausoleums, architectural ensembles, a Roman Catholic church and mosque.