Amir Timur Square

Tashkent is a city in blooms and blossoms. It becomes especially colorful in the spring, when all the plants turn green and exhale fragrance. No artist is able to imitate all the shades of the surrounding leafage, all the colors of flowers. Gorgeous are century-old plane trees, acacias and oaks in Amir Temur Park, which captivate a visitor with their crowns joining high over the head.

In the very heart of the square, surrounded by colorful flowerbeds, stands the monument to Amir Temur. The great military leader and statesman, the founder of a powerful empire of the Temurids, he had a profound effect on the world history. The monument shows Sahibkiran on horseback and dressed in warrior’s attire. His sword is in the sheath, the shield is fastened to the saddle, and one of the arms is raised to signify reconciliation and concord. The pedestal bears Amir Temur’s slogan carved in four languages: ‘Strength comes from justice’.

Next to the square there stands the State Museum of History of the Temurids. Its building is topped with a huge blue dome resembling those of Samarkand’s architectural monuments.

Amir Temur Square is the city’s oldest square. Initially it was set out on a vacant lot through donations from the public in 1883. It was then called Konstantinovskiy square. It was intended to become the center of the new town with popular at that time radial-circular building layout. Thus eight streets like rays run from the park to the outskirts of Tashkent. Almost each of the buildings surrounding the square has a long history. The earliest of them is a baroque type building between Pushkin and Amir Temur Streets. Designed by civil engineer Geyntselman V.S., it was built in 1875 to house the State Bank. For almost 150 years this construction has been reliably serving its purpose; today it still houses a bank office.

At the beginning of Saeelgoh Street, on either side, there stand two similar old brick three-storied buildings. One hundred years ago one of them housed men’s high school, whereas the other was used as women’s high school. As of 1918, Central Asian oldest university occupied the buildings. Today they belong to Tashkent State Juridical Institute. Saeelgoh Street itself is a sort of the city’s attraction. Closed for motor vehicles, it serves for recreation and entertainment. It is lined with fashionable boutiques, cafes, restaurants and clubs. Here stands Zerafshan Concert Hall. Part of the street is in the disposal of artists, who arrange street trade of their pictures made there and then in the audience’s presence.

At the corner of Movarounnahr Street, which joins the square on the east, stands Tashkent chiming clock tower, which was built in 1947 on the occasion of the victory over the fascist Germany. For a long time this tower was Tashkent’s highest structure, and it even served as the symbol of Uzbekistan’s capital. The modern architectural ensembles that appeared in the recent years and changed the look of the city do not affect Tashkent residents’ sentiments towards the old tower. And today its melodious chime can still be heard a long way from Amir Temur Park.

In the mid-1970s there was built the first city’s high-rise hotel, whose faзade faces the square. After the reconstruction, the 4-star hotel Uzbekistan became one of the most prestigious in the city.