Textile Traditions of Uzbekistan

Meet your textile expert and tour manager at London airport for your overnight flight to Tashkent, via Istanbul. Tashkent is the capital and largest city in Uzbekistan.

We will be met by our local guide and transfer to our hotel. After some time to freshen up, we’ll visit the Applied Art Museum; home to over 7,000 examples of embroidery, skull caps, jewellery and other examples of craftsmanship from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day. Later this afternoon we’ll enjoy our first hand-sewing workshop with our expert.

This morning we travel by train to Kokand, one of the ancient cities of Uzbekistan, and crossroads of two of the main ancient trade routes into the Fergana Valley. On arrival we will enjoy a city tour including Khudoyer Khan Palace and Juma Mosque. Our tour will continue to Dangara, where we will visit a wood carver’s and Rishtan, one of the oldest and most famous centres of ceramics in Uzbekistan.

We start the day with an excursion to Margilan which, by the end of the 9th century, was already an important stop on the Silk Road. We will enjoy a tour of the city including Yodgorlik Silk Factory and craft centres producing handmade carpets and silks.

This morning we return to Tashkent, where we will continue our city tour. Highlights of the day include Amir Temur Square; the true heart of the city, Independence Square, Prince Romanov’s Former Palace, Alishger Navoi Theatre; one of the leading centres of performing arts in Central Asia and Akbar Rahimov’s Pottery School, where we’ll see how the products are made and enjoy tea and oriental sweets. The school began in the mid 20th century and is now run by the founder’s son and grandson

We fly to Urgench this morning and continue by road to Khiva. Khiva was the first site in Uzbekistan to be inscribed in the World Heritage List. Our visits here include all the major monuments in the city as well as the United Nations Development Programme for the development of local handicrafts, where we will see tie-dyeing, carpet making, and wood carving. We will also visit an UNESCO-sponsored silk carpet manufacture which produces high-quality silk carpets and embroidered textiles.

Today we travel by train to Bukhara, a city rich in historical sites and Uzbekistan’s fifth largest city. Bukhara’s historic centre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bukhara is also a centre for local artisans and during our stay here we will be able to watch many of them at work on a variety of handicrafts including colourful Suzani products and gold embroidery as well as other forms of textiles, clothing, carpets and costumes.

Our tour of Bukhara will include the Bukhara Artisan Development Centre, colourful local markets where the Caravan Saray (trade domes) and former madrassahs offer splendid embroidery work, textiles, clothing, jewellery, carpets, costumes, spices and other Silk Road treasures. Learn about the Ulugbeg Madrassah – today the museum of history of the restoration of the architectural monuments in Bukhara. See the Abdulazizkhan Madrassah, now the museum of woodcarving, and visit Bobokul’s studio where we will see the traditional way of producing and colouring silk. This evening we will dine at Akbar House, located in the historical Jewish quarter, where we will see a demonstration of cooking plov.

This morning we will take an excursion to Gijduvan, known as a centre for handicrafts due to its proximity to the Silk Road. Here we will take part in an embroidery workshop at Alisher Nazrullayev’s house. On our return to Bukhara, we will enjoy a herbal tea tasting and fashion show at Retro Saloon Timur, followed by a hand-sewing workshop with our expert at the hotel.

Today is dedicated to learning about local Suzani embroidery. We will visit the house of Toshev Rakhmon Buranovich, a local master in this style of embroidery, for an embroidery masterclass. We will also visit the gold embroidery factory in Bukhara and Sitori-I-Mokhi Khosa, the residence of the last Emir of Bukhara. Here we'll see his collection of gifts, Chinese porcelain, Russian cut glass and crystal vases, as well as his rich collection of local suzani embroidery.

Our tour of Bukhara continues with visits to the Ark Fortress: initially built and occupied around the 5th century, the Ark surrounded a town that was inhabited by the various royal courts that held sway over the surrounding region. Visit the Magokki Attori mosque, used as a carpet museum. This afternoon we travel by train to Samarkand. The city prospered from its location on the Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean.

Our full day in Samarkand includes a visit to the Happy Bird Handicraft Centre, where we can meet with local artists and shop for souvenirs. We will also go to the Meros silk paper mill, restored by well-known masters the Mukhtarov brothers.

We start the day with an excursion to Urgut bazaar, one of the few remaining traditional bazaars where people from the countryside sell their homemade produce. On our return to Samarkand, we visit the former family home of Avraham Kalantarov, now a museum. We then enjoy a hand sewing workshop with our expert at the hotel.

During our final day in Samarkand we will visit the Fine Art Museum of Samarkand, housing a fine collection of textiles, El Merosi theatre of historical costumes, where we’ll see costumes from different historical periods and Aisha Textiles, famous for the manufacture of natural silk fabrics under the leadership of local couturier Valentina Romanenko.

Time to say farewell to Uzbekistan as we travel to Samarkand airport for our return flight via Istanbul.