Museums of Uzbekistan

No doubt, the best way to learn about Uzbekistan, to familiarize oneself with its history and traditions and to understand the mentality of its people is to visit the country's diverse museums. The first public museum in Uzbekistan was opened in Tashkent in 1876. Later, museums of regional studies were organised in the cities of Samarkand and Fergana, in 1896 and 1899, respectively. Though being quite miscellaneous and often casual, the museums’ exhibits could nevertheless provide some information on the local history, nature and society and contribute to the local people’s cultural and educational development.more...

Currently, there are 444 museums of various kinds functioning in Uzbekistan, 156 of which are national. Most of them are museums of history and regional studies and memorial museums dedicated to outstanding persons that left imprints on the country’s history or contributed to the development of the regional culture.

In the years of Independence 20 new museums have been opened in Uzbekistan, including several major themed ones, such as the State Museum of History of the Timurids (1996), Museum of Olympic Glory (1996) and State Museum of History of Uzbekistan (1992).

The museums contain over 2.5 million exhibits in their exhibition halls and storerooms, including numerous archaeological, ethnographic and numismatic items, artefacts of material culture and decorative and applied arts, manuscripts and other written materials and articles reflecting the history of independent Uzbekistan. There are 3 museum-preserves in the country – those in Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.

Uzbekistan’s largest and most important museums are the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan, State Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan, State Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan, State Museum of History of the Timurids, State Art Museum of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and State Museum of Nature of Uzbekistan.