Tashkent

For centuries Tashkent was an important Silk Road city. Destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1219 and rebuilt, it was an independent city-state in the 18th–19th centuries before passing to the Kokand Khanate and, from 1865, to the Russian Empire.

The 1966 earthquake destroyed much of the city, which was rebuilt with broad avenues and parks. The Tashkent Metro, opened in 1977, was the first in Central Asia, its stations decorated with mosaics and marble.

Amir Timur Square, with its equestrian statue of Timur, is at the centre, while the Hazrati Imam complex and Chorsu Bazaar in the old town keep the city's historic face.