About Uzbekistan

Madrasah Kukeldash is located on a high hill in the area of Chorsu square. The builder of the madrasah was a vezir of the Tashkent khans (1551-1575), called Kukeldash ("the foster-brother of the khan"). The madrasah has a traditional composition: an extensive court yard, built on khudjras, with darskhana and a mosque in the corners.

The main facade has a high portal, two story loggias, and angular turrets called guldasta. At the end of the 18th century, the maadrasah was used as a caravanserai, in 1860 it served the khans of Kokand as a fortress, and also as a place of execution (from the top parapet, women convicted of infidelity were dumped in bags onto a platform covered with stones). Madrasah Kukeldash is one of the largest madrasahs of 16th century still preserved in Central Asia, with the advanced layout and specific construction of that time.

Head out from the Hotel Uzbekistan to leafy Amir Timur Square where a statue of Tamerlane on horseback. The most eccentric reminder of tsarist Tashkent is the former residence of Grand Duke N.K. Romanov(1850-1917), a first cousin of Tsar Nicholas II , exiled here in 1881 for exploits involving the crown jewels. Ahead sprawls Independence Square flanked by public buildings and walls of fountains. Besides the globe stands the former Government House, first built in 1931 and now hoising the Bakhor Concert Hall and the Alisher Navoi Library. Part of it survives at the library's rear, where the Ankhor Canal, one-time border of old and new Tashkent, meanders through a verdant swimming and leisure area.

The madrasah was constructed from baked brick. Only one facade is decorated. On the portal, the remains of carved decor, glazed bricks and majolica have been preserved: they were restored in 1950. The monument has a huge historic and architectural value. Madrasah Kukeldash, despite its critical condition, was preserved and restored.