Uzbekistan: Playground outside Tashkent Sirk

Tashkent Circus often called the Tashkent Sirk has clear Soviet roots. The circular building was constructed in 1976 during the Soviet era, replacing an older circus structure and becoming part of the USSR’s broader tradition of grand state circuses. Its massive blue-domed design feels unmistakably Soviet modernist: geometric, imposing, and built to make entertainment feel civic and monumental at the same time.  And like the soviet culture, its part abandoned, part still being used.  The circus inside is still very much going, but outside, some of it has not been maintained. 

Uzbekistan: Outside Chorsu Bazaar

The blue domes of Chorsu Bazaar are one of the market’s most recognizable features, blending Soviet-era engineering with the architectural language of Central Asia. Wide, turquoise, and almost futuristic-looking - they were built in the 1980s, but its color and form echo the tiled domes found across historic Silk Road cities like Samarkand and Bukhara.

Uzbekistan: Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent

Chorsu Bazaar is loud, colorful, crowded, and full of movement. Beneath its massive blue dome, vendors sell everything from spices and fresh bread to dried fruit and handmade goods, with the smell of bread and grilled meat drifting through the air. It may be a tourist attraction - but we didn't see any tourists.  It felt like a true Central Asian time capsule without a Western around.  

Tashkent: Hotel Uzbekistan

Hotel Uzbekistan.  Also one of the most notable attractions in Tashkent because of its Soviet style architecture.  We stumbled upon it, coming out of the metro at the wrong exit.  

Opened in 1974, its distinctive grid-pattern façade became one of the defining images of Tashkent, sitting directly across from Amir Timur Square like a monument to Soviet modernism. Even now, it feels less like a luxury hotel and more like an architectural time capsule from another era.

And time capsule is right... from reading the hotel's reviews, I'm glad we didn't stay there.  

Uzbekistan: Tashkent Sirk

Tashkent Circus feels like a relic from another era - a massive blue-domed Soviet circus sitting in the middle of modern Tashkent. Built in 1976, it carries the Soviet style of architecture. But its still running with kids playing outside before/after the shows.  It feels like a time capsule from a different world.

Uzbekistan: Faces of Tashkent

I found the faces in Uzbekistan so unique - part-Asian, part-Russian, part-Muslim... it truly had unique looking people.  

Uzbekistan: Kosmonatvlar Metro Station in Tashkent

Kosmonavtlar Station — one of the most famous stops in the Tashkent Metro.

It’s dedicated to Soviet cosmonauts, and the design leans fully into that idea: deep blue tones, circular mosaics, and portrait medallions that look like planets or phases of a space age mythology. The walls are lined with stylized faces of astronauts, like a tribute hall built underground.

In a system already known for being ornate, this station stands out because it isn’t just decorative; it’s thematic. It feels like the Soviet space program translated into architecture — grand, symbolic, and meant to inspire awe even in a daily commute. 

Uzbekistan: Aerial views of Tashkent

We went up the Tashkent TV Tower, which is what you see when you see images of Tashkent.  And from the top, there were aerial views of the city below.  

The snow-covered mountains in the background are not Uzbekistan - they are in Tajikistan and Krygyzstan.  If you look at where Tashkent is on the map, the borders between the 'Stan countries are very oddly drawn.  Our guide one day told us that the Soviets drew the borders intentionally strangely, to mix up nationalities and tribes so groups would be fighting each other rather than fighting the Soviets.  

Uzbekistan: Tashkent Metro Stations

The Tashkent Metro opened in 1977, built during the Soviet era as both a public transit system and a civil defense shelter, which is why its tunnels run deep and its stations were designed to be structurally resilient. For decades, photography was restricted inside due to its strategic military purpose, which only added to its mystique.

Today, it’s still one of the most visually distinctive metros in the world — less utilitarian, more ceremonial. Marble columns, intricate mosaics, and chandeliers turn everyday commuting into something closer to walking through an underground museum, a reminder of how infrastructure can also be a statement of identity and history.  Below are some photos from some of the stations we visited.  

Uzbekistan: Tashkent TV Tower

The Tashkent TV Tower.  Its in all the postcards and rises above the city like a piece of Soviet futurism.  That now just looks dated and strange.  Completed in 1985, it remains one of the tallest towers in Central Asia, originally built for broadcasting and earthquake monitoring. 

I wanted to go up the tower, and we did.  At the top is a lookout and a restaurant that revolves / rotates.  We sat at the restaurant - ordered french fries as my 6-year old son was so excited to be in a moving restaurant.  They also had normal toilets - which was a rarity in Tashkent.  So I was thrilled to be able to go the the bathroom - as most days I was unable to do so outside the hotel!

Uzbekistan: Kids with chickens

Two kids carrying around and messing with the chickens they purchased at the Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent

Uzbekistan: Circus in Tashkent

We walked by the Circus venue in Tashkent - and circuses used to be big in Soviet culture, and coincidentally, they had a circus show just about to begin and tickets were available and only a few dollars.  So we grabbed some tickets and went in to enjoy the two hour show.  We saw some acrobatics, a monkey riding a horse, a "clown" type person using a leaf-blower to keep toilet paper up in the air and a "gorilla" run around in the circus arena.  Photos below. 

Uzbekistan: Kids in the Dream Plaza in Tashkent

I love when in other countries where English is not the primary language, where there are names of places in English as a way to appeal to Westerners, but the language isn't quite right.  This happened all over Tashkent.  One example we kept seeing was Tashkent Perfect University.  Another example is the Dream Plaza, below.  

Uzbekistan: Food market stalls in Tashkent

We spent loads of time wandering the Chorsu Bazaar area in Tashkent and saw loads of food and market stalls.  The only food we did try from the market was the bread.