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On 26 April 1966, an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale ripped through Tashkent, devastating the historic city. 300,000 people were left homeless, & the city had to be completely rebuilt. 1/
This offered an opportunity: the ideal planned Soviet city could be built from scratch, with wide boulevards, parks, impressive public buildings, & modern apartment blocks. Workers came from across the USSR to rebuild Tashkent; many stayed on & made the city their home. 2/
The centrepiece of the new capital - the arteries linking it all together - was Tashkent Metro. The first line opened in 1977, & it is probably the most beautiful rapid transit system you’ll ever see. 3/
Every one of the 29 metro stations on the network is unique. They were designed by prominent architects & artists, & each one has its own theme. The idea was to bring fine & applied arts into the public sphere, so everyone could appreciate them. 4/
Probably the most famous station is Kosmonaut, dedicated to the astronauts of the Soviet space programme. It was designed by Sergo Sutyagin & features space pioneers such as Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. 4/
Walking down onto the platform at Alisher Navoi station, you could be forgiven for thinking you’d entered a mosque. Navoi was a 15th c poet. His tale of Laila & Majnun is a work akin to Romeo & Juliet. 6/
The mosaics at Pakhtakor have a cotton motif: it’s the crop on which Uzbekistan’s Soviet era economy was based. The station’s also a memorial to Pakhtakor Tashkent FC, 17 of whose football players & staff tragically died in an air crash in 1979. 7/
Mustaqillik Maydoni (Independence Square) is the oldest metro station in Tashkent. It was originally named after Lenin, but was renamed (along with many others) after the fall of the USSR. The marble comes from the Kyzylkum Desert, & the chandeliers make it feel opulent 8/
