Khujand where. Cheap flights to khujand

It is the second largest city in the country and one of the oldest in Central Asia... According to the 2018 census, more than 179 thousand people live in it.

Khujand is located in a beautiful valley on the banks of the Syrdarya River, mountains rise around it. Thanks to this location, the air in the city is fresh and clean. Khujand is not a modern metropolis, but rather an echo of the Soviet and post-Soviet times. The streets of the city are calm and bright, and the people are friendly and helpful. In the markets you can buy delicious, juicy and inexpensive fruits.

Khujand is an ancient city. No one can say for sure when people first settled here. The founding date of Khujand is considered to be 514 BC. NS.

In the VI century. BC NS. the city was conquered by Alexander the Great and was named Alexandria Eskhati. In the VIII century. it was captured by the Arabs, and the XIII century. - Tatar-Mongols, who almost completely destroyed the city. But thanks to the favorable location and the fact that trade routes passed through it, the city was restored. Over time, it turned into major center science, culture, politics and trade.

In 1866, Khujand was conquered by the Russian Empire and received new opportunities for development. During the Soviet era, the city was renamed Leninabad.

How to get there

You can get to Khujand from the capital of Tajikistan or from Uzbekistan. A taxi from Tashkent is not too expensive. The way from Dushanbe runs through two mountain passes, the journey will take at least 5 hours.

Trains go from Dushanbe to Khujand, but this type of transport is not entirely convenient, since you will have to cross the border with Uzbekistan, and inspection at the Uzbek customs takes a lot of time and is scrupulous.

Airplanes fly from the capital to Khujand three times a day. This option of movement is not only convenient, but also allows you to admire the Pamirs from a height. The airport is located 10 km from Khujand.

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Eskhata) is a city in the north of Tajikistan, the administrative center of the Sughd region.

Population - 169.7 thousand inhabitants (2014).

One of the oldest cities in Central Asia. The second largest city in Tajikistan, an important transport hub, political, economic, cultural and scientific center of the country. Khujand agglomeration with a population of 584,400 people.

Airport, railway station Khujand (11 km from the center of Khujand, in the city of Gafurov).

• 1 Title
• 2 Transport
• 3 Population
• 4 Geography and climate
  • 4.1 Climate
• 5 History
  • 5.1 antiquity
  • 5.2 Russian Empire
  • 5.3 USSR
  • 5.4 Modern Tajikistan
• 6 Culture, education
• 7 Attractions
• 8 Twin Cities
• 9 Notes
• 10 References

Name

Modern Russian name cities - Khujand, sometimes transliterated as Khujand or Khujand.

From the time of the Russian Empire until 1936, the name of the city was Persian. خجند, in Russian it was customary to transfer it as Khujand.

From January 10, 1936 to February 26, 1991, the city bore the name Leninabad (in honor of V.I.Lenin (Ulyanov)), while in historical literature for the period up to 1936, the spelling of Khujand was preserved, and this spelling in official practice continued to be used in the name of the Khojand region of the Tajik SSR.

By the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Tajik SSR No. 246 of February 26, 1991, the city was returned to its historical name.

Transport

The city is served only by numerous route taxis... Bus and trolleybus routes were abolished (in 1994 there were 11 trolleybus routes).

Population

Khujand is the second most populous city in Tajikistan after Dushanbe. According to the 1897 census, 28,431 residents of the city indicated Tajik, 595 Uzbek, 305 Sart, 458 Russian as their native language. The population of the Khujand agglomeration is 584,400 people.

Geography and climate

Khujand is located on the banks of the Syr Darya, below the Kairakkum reservoir, 35 km above the Uzbek Bekabad, in the Fergana Valley, between the spurs of the Turkestan ridge in the south and the Mogoltau mountains in the north.

The city is located 200 km north-east of Dushanbe (along the road - 300 km).

Climate

A quote from St. Petersburg Gazette, 1868 (No. 215, 219):

“... Khujand is located on the banks of the excellent abundant Syr Darya and is surrounded on all sides by mountains, along the slopes of which luxurious gardens grow green, and all this together - water, mountains and vegetation in summer, with the local heat and droughts, gives the air favorable freshness and purity, in winter moderation. ... Khujand is all surrounded magnificent gardens, of which there are more here than in other localities of the region. All these orchards are fruit, fruits grow here in amazing abundance and they are supplied to the surrounding cities ... "

On the formation of the climate of Tajikistan, including Khujand big influence have the same air masses that invade the territory of Central Asia and determine the nature and change of weather. Precipitation in the Khujand region and throughout the Fergana Valley is mainly associated with cyclonic activity and the nature of the underlying surface.

The main role in precipitation is played by the South Caspian, Murghab and Upper Amu Darya cyclones, as well as masses of cold air moving from the west, northwest and north. Reaching the frontal surface of the mountains, the incoming air masses rise along this surface, cool down and get an additional effect for the formation of clouds and precipitation. All these air masses invade the Fergana Valley from the west and southwest, but on their way they collide with the western and southwestern slopes of the mountain ranges of Northern Tajikistan and they receive more precipitation than the leeward slopes, intermountain valleys and basins. So, on the windward slopes of the Zeravshan, Turkestan and Kuramin ranges, the amount of precipitation per year is more than 400-800 mm. This is confirmed by the fact that a deep snow cover forms in these mountainous regions in winter, which is associated with avalanches in spring. As we move deeper mountainous country these air masses reach inland areas that are highly depleted in moisture, as a result of which intermontane valleys and deep basins receive very little precipitation. In Khujand, the annual amount of precipitation falls: during the cold period of the year 87 mm, and the greatest amount is in March and April (25-27 mm); the smallest in the summer months (9-11 mm, Aug.).

As a rule, precipitation in the form of snow falls only at subzero temperatures. In the Khujand region, stable snow cover is absent in 20% of winter, and in 3-10% of winter it does not form at all. Here, the height of snow cover only in February reaches an average of 1-3 cm, and is absent in the rest of the year. The highest ten-day snow cover height was observed in the third ten-day period of February - 47 cm. The average date of snow cover appearance falls on December 15, and the earliest date is October 31. The number of days with snow cover is exactly 21.

History

In ancient times

The history of the city goes back to antiquity. The city existed even during the Achaemenid dynasty. The troops of Alexander the Great, capturing the city, fortified it, calling Alexandria Eskhata (Extreme)(Greek Ἀλεξάνδρεια Ἐσχάτη).

In the VIII century. the city was captured by the Arabs. 1219-1220 the city offered fierce resistance to the troops of Genghis Khan, but was destroyed.

Since ancient times, Khujand, being at the crossroads of trade routes of the East, on the Great Silk Road, was one of the most important economic, military-strategic and cultural centers of Maverannahr.

Khujand was home to famous astronomers, mathematicians, doctors, historians, poets, musicians. One of them is Abumahmud Khujandi, the founder of the local astronomical school. Kamol Khujandi, the author of the famous gazelles, was called the "Nightingale of Khujand" in the XIV century. The outstanding poet, musician and dancer Mahasti was equally popular in the Middle Ages. In the 19th century in Khujand, such cultural figures as Toshkhoja Asiri, Sodirkhon Hafiz, Khoji Yusuf conducted an active educational work.

In the Russian Empire

On May 24, 1866, the city was occupied by the Russian army and became part of the Russian Empire (see Central Asian possessions of the Russian Empire). The entry into the empire of the center of the densely populated district with rich economic resources, the most important road junction between the Fergana Valley, the Tashkent oasis and the Zeravshan Valley, a major trading point, opened up new opportunities for the development of Khujand.

The city was administrative center Khojent district of Samarkand region.

In July 1916, a Central Asian uprising began in the city.

IN USSR

At the beginning of 1918, Soviet power was established in the city, on October 2, 1929, it was incorporated into the Tajik SSR.

In 1941, the Tajik Agricultural Institute was located in Leninabad, which was the university of the USSR People's Commissariat of Agriculture and had a postal address: the city of Leninabad, Krasnaya street, house number 25.

In the post-war period, Leninabad turned into the largest industrial and Cultural Center Tajikistan. The city's industry became diversified, equipped with advanced domestic and foreign technology, a silk-processing plant operated in the city - one of the largest enterprises in the republic. In 1991, dozens of enterprises in Khujand produced the same amount of industrial products per day as in all of pre-revolutionary Tajikistan per year. The fabrics of the silk factory were sent to 450 cities of the USSR and to foreign countries.

Since the 60s, Leninabad has been actively expanding its borders. The city stepped onto the right bank of the Syr Darya, throwing two bridges across it.

In 1970, a trolleybus service was launched in Leninabad.

During the years of Soviet power, radical transformations have taken place in the field of health care. By 1991, there were 40 medical and preventive institutions in Khujand, in which about 2.5 thousand doctors and specialists with higher and secondary medical care worked. education.

Major changes have taken place in the field of public education. 1991 in Khujand there were 30 schools in which about 30 thousand students studied.

In 1986, the city celebrated its anniversary - the 2500th anniversary of its foundation. In connection with this, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the city was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples.

Modern Tajikistan

The 16th session of the Supreme Soviet, held in the Arbob palace 10 km from Khujand in November 1992, restored the constitutional order in the republic and elected E. Sh. Rakhmonov as the chairman of the Supreme Soviet.

Culture, education

Theatre. Historical and local history, archaeological museum, a park in honor of the poet Kamol Khujandi, which includes a mausoleum and a house-museum of the poet.

In 1932, the Pedagogical Institute was opened, where only 26 people studied. Today, 16 faculties of this university, transformed in 1991 into Khujand State University, more than 10 thousand students study.

sights

The medieval citadel, the mosque-mausoleum of Sheikh Muslikhiddin (17th-18th centuries), the Orthodox Church of Mary Magdalene is the oldest Orthodox church in Tajikistan, built in 1884 at the expense of the Moscow merchant Khludov. Monument to the native of the city, the poet Kamol Khujandi.

Twin cities

• Shymkent (Kazakhstan)
• Agstafa (Azerbaijan)
• Lincoln (USA)
• Orenburg (Russia)

Notes (edit)

1. 1 2 3 4 Agency on Statistics under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan. Population of Tajikistan as of January 1, 2013 (Russian) (01.01.2013). Retrieved September 19, 2013.
2. World Atlas. - M .: PKO "Cartography" Federal agency geodesy and cartography of the Ministry of Transport Russian Federation: Onyx Publishing House, 2008.
3. Sovetabad - article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd edition)
4. Demoscope Weekly - Application. Handbook of Statistical Indicators
5. For the whereabouts of Alexandria Eskhat, see also the article by Antioch of Zayaksart.
6. Oriental flavor of Dushanbe :: With you on the flight

Links

• Official site of the city
• Khujand city portal
• Coat of arms of the city of Khujand, 1910
• TSB: Leninabad
• Khujand // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional volumes). - SPb., 1890-1907.

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Khujand Information About

Name

The modern Russian name of the city is Khujand, sometimes transliterated as Khujand, Khujand.

By the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Tajik SSR No. 246 of February 26, 1991, the city was returned to its historical name.

Transport

The city is served only by numerous shuttle taxis. Bus and trolleybus routes were abolished (in 1994 there were 11 trolleybus routes).

Population

Khujand is the second most populous city in Tajikistan after Dushanbe.

Geography and climate

Khujand is located on the banks of the Syrdarya, below the Kairakkum reservoir, 35 above the Uzbek Bekabad. It is part of the Fergana Valley, between the spurs of the Turkestan ridge in the south and the Mogoltau mountains in the north.

The city is located 200 km north-east of Dushanbe (341 km along the road).

Climate

A quote from St. Petersburg Gazette, 1868 (No. 215, 219):

«… Khujand is located on the banks of the excellent high-water Syr Darya and is surrounded on all sides by mountains, along the slopes of which luxurious gardens are green, and all this together - water, mountains and vegetation in summer, with the local heat and droughts, gives the air favorable freshness and purity, while in winter it is moderation. ... Khujand is surrounded by magnificent gardens, which are more here than in other areas of the region. All these orchards are fruit, fruits grow here in amazing abundance and are supplied to the surrounding cities ...»

Khujand was home to famous astronomers, mathematicians, doctors, historians, poets, musicians. One of them is Abumahmud Khujandi, the founder of the local astronomical school. Kamol Khujandi, the author of the famous gazelles, was called "The Nightingale of Khujand" in the XIV century. The outstanding poet, musician and dancer Mahasti was equally popular in the Middle Ages. In the 19th century in Khujand, such cultural figures as Toshkhoja Asiri, Sodirkhon Hafiz, Khoji Yusuf conducted an active educational work.

In the Russian Empire

IN USSR

In the post-war period, Leninabad turned into the largest industrial and cultural center of Tajikistan after Dushanbe. The city's industry became diversified, equipped with advanced domestic and foreign technology, a silk-processing plant operated in the city - one of the largest enterprises in the republic. In 1991, dozens of enterprises in Khujand produced the same amount of industrial products per day as in all of pre-revolutionary Tajikistan per year. The fabrics of the silk factory were sent to 450 cities of the USSR and to foreign countries.

Since the 60s, Leninabad has been actively expanding its borders. The city stepped onto the right bank of the Syr Darya, throwing two bridges across it.

In 1970, a trolleybus service was launched in Leninabad.

During the years of Soviet power, radical transformations have taken place in the field of health care. By 1991, there were 40 medical and preventive institutions in Khujand, in which about 2.5 thousand doctors and specialists with higher and secondary medical care worked. education.

Major changes have taken place in the field of public education. In 1991, 30 schools operated in Khujand, in which about 30 thousand students studied.

Modern Tajikistan

The 16th session of the Supreme Soviet, held in the village of Arbob, 10 km from Khujand in November 1992, restored the constitutional order in the republic and elected E. Sh. Rakhmonov as the chairman of the Supreme Soviet.

Culture, education

Theatre. Historical, local history, archaeological museums.

In 1932, the Pedagogical Institute was opened, where only 26 people studied. Today, 16 faculties of this university, transformed into

Khujand is the center of the Sughd region, the second largest city in Tajikistan (177 thousand inhabitants), which the Tajiks themselves jokingly call "our Petersburg". The two "northern capitals" - the former Leningrad and Leninabad - really have a lot in common, be it a large river with a front embankment, a wide avenue, a powerful system of suburbs, and even that special atmosphere of a city of high culture and a southern capital... I would say that Khujand - best city throughout Central Asia with the unique spirit of Soviet technocracy on the millennial foundation of the great Persian culture.

I will tell you about Khujand in 5 parts: it was about the most interesting of its suburbs "atomabad" Chkalovsk (Bustan), in the last part I will show other suburbs - the station Gafurov, the palace and park Arbob and the hypothetical Saihun. In the next three parts, we will talk about the "small" Khujand, and for a start we will walk along the Syr Darya.

Northern Tajikistan is completely different from either Southern Tajikistan or the surrounding regions of Uzbekistan. If the south literally overwhelms with its sultry alienation, then among the local fields, if there are no mountains looming on the horizon, sometimes you might think that you are somewhere near Dnepropetrovsk. Northern Tajikistan is more Soviet, but at the same time more Persian, at least from the point of view of a person who has never seen real Iran. Tajiks-northerners in communication are friendly, intelligent, sometimes a little arrogant, and not so crippled by the civil war of the 1990s, from the fire of which only isolated flashes of fire reached here through two passes. I remember that, among other things, the owners of the Khujand hostel behind the huge Panjshanbe bazaar, where we headed, having just arrived in the northern capital from the borderline Isfara, the story about which I will postpone until the summer. A charming young hostess, dressed in a completely European way, told us that there was no room for a week ahead, and she and her husband even let two Englishwomen into their house, but they could rent out an apartment to us. The price suited me, and I agreed, after which the hostess caught a taxi and at her own expense took us to the entrance, where a young and equally handsome husband was already waiting. On closer inspection, the apartment suited me not only for the price (although the Internet dried up in the evening), and we moved in. So we will start our walk in Khujand from the most ordinary courtyard near the center:

No sooner had we seen the hosts away than a smiling saleswoman with a bowl of pie knocked on the door, and it was very helpful, and the pies were excellent. Most likely, she lives somewhere in this quarter and bypasses the entrances once a day. The entrance has no combination lock, the stairs are dark, but clean. Khujand immediately disposes of a complete absence of "Asiaticism", all these spontaneous outbuildings, border traders or courtyard tandoors, and even satellite dishes hanging in garlands are not here:

But right in the courtyard between the clinic and the supermarket, there was either a mausoleum or a miniature mosque, which I immediately called a chapel:

Our yard turned out to be very close to Samani Avenue, which in the former Leninabad itself is called Lenin Street in the old fashioned way. The avenue is a direct continuation of the route familiar to us from the previous part of the route, on which Chkalovsk and Gafurov are "strung". The last blocks in front of the Syr Darya on its right side stretch shady squares:

In the first of them there is a monument to Kamol Khujandi, a Persian poet of the 14th century, who spent most of his life in Tabriz, studied in Samarkand and Tashkent, and spent several years in the Horde Sarai, where Tokhtamysh took him. However, Kamol did not forget his small homeland and everywhere he signed "Khujandi", so part of the monument is a map of his wanderings:

Opposite - a concrete stele "To Fighters for Soviet Power", hiding the local Alley of Heroes. In Russia or Belarus, I would hardly have photographed this, but here, as well as in Ukraine - who knows how long she has left to stand?

The square between two monuments, in the stalinka on the left, old-timers remember the "Kairakkum grocery store", famous for fish from the Kairakkum reservoir on the Syrdarya, for the lack of other seas, nicknamed the Tajik Sea:

Real stalinkas of a very local look on the other side of the avenue. Behind them is the Soviet center at the ancient fortress, which I will leave for the next part:

The oldest library in Tajikistan, founded in March 1917 by Bolshevik officers (!) Of the local garnzion. The building, of course, is 60 years younger:

And there it is a stone's throw to the Syrdarya, which Samani Avenue crosses along the Old Bridge of the 1960s. It is no secret that the life of Central Asia from time immemorial revolved along the "Cheese and Amu", on the great rivers themselves because of their violent temper, often changing the channel, there are almost no ancient cities - not only ancient, but simply pre-Soviet, I can only remember two for each of the rivers: Amudarya and Chardzhou, Syrdarya Khujand and. On the map of Tajikistan, the Syrdarya is slightly similar to the Neva, only instead of the lake and the sea there are Uzbek borders. But even by Central Asian standards, Khujand is surprisingly beautifully located: from the north hangs over it the low and sun-scorched Kuraminsky ridge, its gloomy rocky spur Mogoltau (1624m) - the southwestern claw of the Tien Shan; from the south, the icy peaks of the Turkestan ridge shine, the first in the "staircase", through the Gissar-Alai leading to the Pamirs. Khujand has great mountain systems they come closest to each other, to the west begins the Great Steppe, and to the east lies the heart of Turkestan, the most fertile and therefore populous oasis of the Fergana Valley. Khujand stands, as it were, at its gates, which means that it could not but have a long and complex history- suffice it to say that Khujand traces its succession to Alexandria-Eskhata (Alexandria Extreme), which was laid by Alexander the Great in the farthest land that he could reach.

But its surviving monuments are on the other side of the bridge, so we will talk about antiquities in the next part. Above is the Monument of Independence, a smaller and almost exact copy of the Stele of the Coat of Arms. He closes the square in front of huge complex Khukumat, in the long building of which the administration of the Sughd region lives, in the high building - the administration of the city:

Next to the newly built Wedding Palace with the monument to Rudaki:

For all its two and a half decades, Khujand remained a large and important city, but it was never a capital. In the 19th century, Bukhara and Kokand fought for it with alternating success, for which Khujand was what Alsace was for France and Germany. And it was near Khujand, cutting it off from the rest of Bukhara, that Russian troops entered the territory of the emirate in 1866. After several defeats, the emir realized that resistance was useless and recognized a Russian protectorate over him. But the northeast of the emir's possessions went under the direct subordination of Russia as Samarkand region, in which Khujand became a district town, whose garrison held at gunpoint Kokand, while Dushanbe, Kulyab or Kurgan-Tyube remained a remote outskirts of the possessions of the Bukhara emir. In 1897, a Railway Samarkand-Andijan, and in general, while the virgin Middle Ages continued in the South, European civilization with its cars, medicines and rights penetrated the North more and more persistently. The Soviet civil war ended here much faster, while the Red Army men drove the Basmachs through the Khatlon valleys until the mid-1920s. And in general, by the time of the national demarcation, Khujand was by far the largest and most developed city on the territory of present-day Tajikistan. Probably, it could become the capital of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, but it was not part of it - in 1924-29, according to the initial delimitation, Khujand was the district center of Uzbekistan, and I think when the old Karimov signed a decree on construction, revising this decision, the Soviet the official turned over in his coffin at least once. When Tajikistan was separated into a full-fledged SSR, Khujand became part of it, but Dushanbe, which was renamed Stalinabad in the same 1929, was already under construction at full speed by that time. However, in Khojent, which since 1936 became Leninabad, there were, like nowhere else in the republic, many educated and loyal people, whose party career led straight to new capital... This process intensified even more after the war, when Leninabad became the stronghold of the "nuclear project", which means it was supplied from the center in the first class, turning into an intelligent and developed city with an abundance of Russians and Germans.

This is how the strongest "Leninabad clan" in the TSSR was formed - in my previous posts I have repeatedly quoted the formula "Leninabad rules, protects, the Pamir dances, Karategin trades." When independence came and the tension that had been accumulating for decades burst out, the old and therefore clumsy Leninabd nomenklatura let go of the situation. Among the "Leninabadians" was the first president of the country, Kakhar Makhkamov, and Rakhmon Nabiev, who succeeded him, who, according to one of the versions, was behind the organization of the riots in Dushanbe, not appreciating that these riots would flare up into a brutal war, in which he himself would first lose power, and then and life. Among the "Leninabadians" there was also the Yagnobi Safarali Kenjaev, the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the republic, who, at the beginning of the war, organized the Popular Front from the Hissar and Kulyab people. In the end, the people of Kulyab won that war, becoming the new masters of the capital. They say that in the first years after the war, the "Leninabadians" in the rest of Tajikistan were hated, accusing some of weakness (that they allowed the war), some of cunning (that they played in controlled chaos, sitting around the mountains, and eventually outwitted themselves), but now they rather, they are respected as the elite of the national culture - drawing parallels with another country suffering from clan struggle, Kulyabs are here as "Donetsk", and northerners as Westerners. The Khujans themselves now speak of the Kulob people with undisguised hatred - they say, they survived us from the capital and turn it into a village, and I think that often this hatred is based on the broken career of a father, grandfather, uncle or father-in-law. It's hard for me to judge who is right here, but Khujand really looks much neater, more cosmopolitan, and even I would say more civilized than Dushanbe. People on its streets are different, but in the frames above and below there are two specifically local types: a solid gray-haired Tajik with a mournful and stern face, similar to a former capital official and a young well-groomed girl without signs of patriarchy in her clothes and face.

Yes, and Russian people are much more common here than in Dushanbe, and even more so anywhere in the provinces (they simply are not there). Here is the characteristic appearance of local women, much more like the inhabitants of Uzbekistan than the inhabitants of the Tajik South.

The square near the Independence Monument offers impressive views of the right bank under the stone sky of the mountains. Khujand not only stands on the Syr Darya itself, it also stands on its two banks, "crossing" the river only in the 1960s:

On the frame above is the long building of the university, on the frame below is the golden dome of the mosque on Tashkent Avenue, to which we will rise from the river:

And the river bed is decorated with many dilapidated sculptures, as if reminding of the ancient Greek origin of the city:

The water in the Syr Darya is surprisingly clear - and this despite the fact that many times more people live upstream than downstream, and the canals bring here all kinds of rubbish from all fields and factories of the Fergana Valley filled with cities and villages. But the high-flowing river is far from being at its peak here - in Uzbekistan, by local standards, large and large ones flow into it, on the valleys of which the Tashkent region is strung. After them, the Syr Darya is about the size of the Dniester, but it is not the fullness of the river that is impressive in it, but the length - 2212 kilometers, up to the mosquito delta. Most of the length, and somewhere downstream in its water the flame of rockets taking off from Baikonur is reflected.

We cross the river along the Old Bridge. Above, you can see Kamola Khujandi Park hiding ancient fortress, and the dome of the symbolic mausoleum-monument to the poet. Samani Avenue continues across the river, resting higher up the slope against the university buildings:

Behind the bridge I met RAFik for the only time in the city - until recently there were a lot of such people in Jizzak, Kazakhstan, and apparently here, but now this is clearly a departing nature. Basically, minibuses - "Mercedes" run in Khujand, and in 1970-2010 even one of the two trolleybuses operated in Tajikistan. But if in "degraded" Dushanbe this transport was restored from an almost ditched state after the civil war, then in "highly cultured" Khujand it was closed with a stroke of the pen, as in Tashkent. Another feature of local transport concerns "individual" taxis or even just bombing - they carry here for 10 somoni (70-80 rubles) regardless of the distance, so it's easier to catch minibuses.

The symbol of the right bank for a long time was the monument to Lenin (1974), by a wide margin the largest in Central Asia (22 meters high) and, as it were, the third largest in the Soviet Union after the grandiose Ilyichs on the canals, and, in contrast to those two, it was erected in a completely different era and never stood in a duet with Stalin.

But Ilyich was dismantled in 2011 and seemed to be transferred somewhere to the outskirts, in its place an even more gigantic monument to Ismail Samani, the most revered monarch of Tajik history, grew:

However, may the old-timers forgive me, but in my opinion this is the best monument Tajikistan, if not the entire post-Soviet Central Asia. And the most interesting thing about it is not the sculpture of the ancient emir, but a cascade of mosaics, with a style and execution quite worthy of Soviet times:

In the frame above, in pairs - modernity and the Great Silk Road, the industrial USSR with tractors and pipes and Zoroastrian Iran with bearded kings and winged faravahar. The last "line" is about the era of the Russian Empire, and it even contains such a touching detail:

In the upper group of mosaics - the Sogdian Varakhsha with its frescoes, the Timurid Samarkand and the Muslim Bukhara in the center of the panel.

I could not understand the meaning of the last two mosaics, but this winged lion clearly says "nya!":

Well, who is Ismail Samani, I have told in past posts so many times that to be honest there is no strength to repeat myself, but in short, his lot, which separated from the Arab Caliphate, became the first Muslim state in Central Asia, formed one of the strongest empires of the East, which stood at the origins of the Asian Renaissance.

In general, in my opinion, the Khujand Samani memorial became quite a worthy replacement for Ilyich (although he was still unique, so it would be better if both looked at the Syr Darya) and, in my opinion, is much more elegant than the Dushanbe complex. As it should be in the Northern capital ...

Looking back. The fountains are either already extinguished on the occasion of autumn (the piercing wind is not visible in the photographs), or they are not turned on every day. Below the cascade, the Syrdarya bank occupies sports complex, including the pool, whose architect was clearly trying to keep up with European trends:

The clay hump of the fortress can be seen across the river, but agree that where more city nature catches the eye - the shining jagged ridge of the Turkestan ridge. I will not even try to identify the peaks by eye, but the highest peaks in this part of the ridge are Piryakh (4681m) and Sabakh (5282m), and there is also Skalisty peak (5621) on the ridge, 20 meters below Elbrus. The border of Tajikistan with Kyrgyzstan runs along the ridge ... and from here you can see exactly the "Kyrgyz" slope - in fact, about 70 kilometers to the mountains, and Kyrgyzstan wedges itself into the Tajik territory with a long ledge. The brown Degmai Upland, supporting Khujand from the south, is still in Tajikistan:

We go upstairs. Tajik high-rise buildings are invariably pleasing to the eye, and in the former Leninabad, given its importance in Soviet times, especially:

Behind the crossroads, the property of the Khujansk University begins, and we came at a good time - to meet, past the renovated hostel, a noisy crowd walked to the bus stops of the minibuses:

The Khujand University named after Bobojon Gafurov itself was founded in 1932, and somewhere in the center (I have not seen) it also has an old building from Stalin's times. But these buildings are definitely better, at least because from their windows students can see the whole city, and listening to a boring lecture, you can admire the mountains.

Once or twice Slavic faces flashed among the students (or maybe they were the Pamirians? They get along with the northerners now), but on the stairs the following inscription was found:

To the left (if you face the buildings) is a huge and unintelligible monument that looks like it was rejected in Ashgabat. Previously, there was an equestrian statue of Ismail Samani, but when a new monument was erected down the slope, it was also removed. Now here is just an abstract crown with apparently observation deck which hardly anyone has ever seen open:

Further - a concrete jungle. The right bank of the Syr Darya in Khujand serves as a New City: on the other side of the mahalla, on this side there are microdistricts, all by numbers and with different projects (take a closer look - in the middle plan, the houses are smoothly curved). Bekabad, one of the main industrial centers of Uzbekistan, stands behind the mountains in a haze, 30 kilometers away.

Khujand is still stunningly beautifully located. Almaty and Bishkek are more open to the mountains, but they have mountains only on one side; Dushanbe also stands between the mountains, but the mountains there are boring and nondescript. And here, from the slope of some mountains, it is good to admire others:

There are no distant views on the right, but only students catch minibuses:

The street across which the bridge is thrown is Tashkent Avenue, and it is strange that this name could be preserved here. However, on the Google map you can still see the streets of Komsomolskaya, Rosa Luxemburg, Stakhanov - perhaps, in its patrimony, the "Leninabad clan" resists renaming, because the old toponymy reminds local officials of the times when the Kulyab people guarded them.

We will continue our journey parallel to the Syr Darya, from the student bridge to the right. By the road stood a clunker with a hairpin unknown to me, and a teahouse with a chortak entrance ...

Hiding behind itself is not so much a huge, but very large new mosque Nur-Islam ("The Light of Islam"), beautifully set against the backdrop of shining mountains:

The structure of the mosque is even more impressive - in terms of an eight-pointed star (a symbol so popular in Central Asia, clearly rooted in the pre-Islamic era), and even with a downright church five-domed:

It is a stone's throw from the mosque to the prospect of 60th anniversary of Victory (note that it could have received such a name only in 2007), and its prospect is, without exaggeration, dizzying! I thought the powerful saddle in the mountains was the Shahristan pass, through which we should go to the south, but in fact it is fifty kilometers to the west. But Chkalovsk, the high-rise of the hotel "Khujand" and four high-rise buildings across the pond from it are clearly visible - but we also admired the city in the last part from there. Behind Chkalovsk, the valley sink is clearly visible - this is the farthest corner of Kyrgyzstan from Bishkek, to which even from Osh you can go all day.

The prospectus of the 60th anniversary of Victory turns into Gagarin Street, which crosses the Syrdarya along the New Bridge. It is also known as Jubilee, that is, it was built either in 1970 or in 1967, and in any case a few years later than the Old Bridge. But we did not meet RAFik here, but two convertibles, racing, of course, to someone's wedding:

Behind the bridge, in the frame above, you can see the greenery of the fenced-in, but even through it you can see that the neglected Botanical Garden... On the Syr Darya, it is continued by the Chumchuk-Aral islet occupied by the Central Asian deserted recreation park Navruzgoh:

Chumchuk-Aral in translation means Sparrow Island, but on its arrow there is not a sparrow, but the Dove of Peace. Nobody really knows anything about it, except that it was built back in the 1970s, but initially it stood on Mira Street (parallel to the Syr Darya below Tashkent Avenue), like the hammer and sickle, which was later transferred to the Lenin monument and together with it dismantled. To be honest, this bird scares me - but in any way it will ruffle its feathers, loudly coo and whirling in front of a dove will blow half of Khujand with a stone tail ?!

On the other side of the bridge, the Il-18 aircraft, made in 1958-78 in Moscow, echoes the dove. In Central Asian cities, these invariably housed cafes that were dear to the hearts of the Russians who left here, and for the most part were closed in the post-Soviet period. We were not even too lazy to approach the plane along a neglected and deserted alley, but close up it does not fit into the frame, and its door is tightly closed.

Above the plane, you can see the same mosque, sparkling with its dome from the rows of buildings, and the white spot on the slope is nothing more than the Kiik-Tap uranium mine, which worked in 1973-87 almost within the city limits.

The building behind the bridge, again on the left bank, looks very much like a fragment of the district Khojent:

I already wrote that I met Russian immigrants from Leninabad more often than immigrants from any other Central Asian city - they are hardly the most numerous, rather - the most educated and active, and therefore more traveling or reading LJ. I do not know what emotions this post will cause them - after all, I myself saw Soviet Leninabad only in other people's photographs - see. table of contents.
Western Fergana (Kanibadam, Isfara, Chorku, Vorukh) - posts will be in the series about the Fergana Valley
Sughd region. October.
Khujand. Syrdarya.
Khujand. Centre.
Khujand. Pachshanbe.
Suburbs of Khujand. Chkalovsk (Bustan).
Suburbs of Khujand. Arbob and Gafurov.
Istaravshan (Ura-Tyube). Bazaar and sacred groves.
Istaravshan (Ura-Tyube). Old city.
Istaravshan (Ura-Tyube). New city and views from the hills.
Shahristan pass and Zerafshan valley.
Penjikent. Kainar.
Penjikent. Town.
Suburbs of Penjikent. Panjrud and Sarazm.
Sughd region. August.
Anzob pass and Aini.
Iskanderkul lake.
Yagnob Valley. Road.
Yagnob Valley. Lost Sogdiana.
Karategin and Pamir- there will be posts.
... Review and table of contents.

The administrative center of the Sughd region. It is located in the picturesque valley of the Syrdarya River at an altitude of more than three hundred meters above sea level. Today Khujand is the largest industrial, industrial and cultural center of Northern Tajikistan and the second most important city in the republic with a population of 155 thousand 400 people (2009). Representatives of more than 20 nations and nationalities live here.

Today Khujand is an important transport hub, political, economic, cultural and scientific center of the country. On the territory of the city there are the airport and the Khujand railway station, located 11 km from the center of Khujand, in the village of Gafurov.

Name

Currently official name cities in Russian - Khujand. From the moment the territory of the city became part of the Russian Empire and until 1936, it was called Khujand.

Then, on January 10, 1936, the city was renamed Leninabad in honor of V.I. Lenin. And already on February 26, 1991, after the country gained independence, its historical name was returned to the city, and it officially turned into Khujand.

History of Khujand

Khujand, along with such cities as Bukhara and Samarkand, was one of the famous civilizations centers of science and culture of Central Asia, a city that has attracted attention since ancient times with the hospitality of its inhabitants, talented scientists, artisans and craftsmen. It has been known in historical sources since the 7th century.

The city attracts the attention of tourists with its numerous medieval citadels, as well as the mosque-mausoleum of Sheikh Musleheddin (17-18 centuries).

Khujand has a rich, centuries-old history. In the past, scientists, poets and writers called it the "Crown of the World".

Initially, the city was founded during the time of the Kaianid king Kaikubod, and flourished and became even more beautiful during the reign of the Persian king from the Achaemenid dynasty - Darius. After the conquest of Varazrud (Central Asia) by Alexander the Great, the city began to be called Alexandria Eskhata (Extreme Alexandria).

Medieval historians, geographers and travelers in their works mention Khujand as a city of magnanimous, generous people, with developed science and crafts, fertile fields and gardens, and refer it to the “fifth, the best climate". According to scientists and historians, since ancient times, gold, silver, copper, mercury, tin and other valuable metals have been mined in the mountains around Khujand.

Representatives of the Oli Khujand dynasty, immigrants from Khujand, who invariably held high government posts, the leaders of this dynasty, evoked a deep response in the hearts of people with their intelligence and knowledge, nobility and foresight in the East. That is why the great poet of the 12th century Hokoni Shirvani says with sincere love: “One can endlessly talk about Khujand, about its people - talented poets, melodious singers and gentle dancers, famous scientists and unsurpassed artisans. But better times see".

The Great Silk Road passed through the territory of the city, so the city had a constant connection with world civilization, developed economically and spiritually. The merchants of Khujand exported to other states the best products of local artisans, and returned from their wanderings enriched with the achievements of science and civilization of almost the whole world. However, on the other hand, all this kindled the interest of the conquerors in this prosperous corner of the earth. The streets and squares of the city saw the Greco-Macedonians, Arab invaders, hordes of cruel Karakitais and Genghis Khan, experienced the cruel tyranny of Timur, Sheibanids, Ashtarkhanids. Many stormy events swept over the city for 25 centuries, but, nevertheless, its image did not fade in the darkness of millennia; over time, he only became younger and more beautiful.

The greatness of the city in the history of world civilization is evidenced by the pages of its chronicle associated with the names of prominent scientists and poets of the East, such as Abumakhmudi Khujandi, Kamoli Khujandi, Mahasti, Koshifi, Toshkhuji Asiri, famous traveler Khoja Yusuf, composer and singer Sodirkhon Khofiz. Legendary Tehmosi and Temurmalik were also prominent statesmen. The city often suffered from the raging elements, was almost completely destroyed by floods, but was revived again by the labor of the people. On the territory of Khujand there is the Khujand citadel, built in the early Middle Ages and functioning until the beginning of the 20th century.

After the annexation of Central Asia to Russia in 1866, Khujand became one of the centers of the revolutionary movement on the territory of Tajikistan. Social democratic organizations began to emerge here, and the national liberation labor movement began to develop actively. Following St. Petersburg and Tashkent in November 1917, Soviet power was established in this region.

In the 50-60s, Khujand was actively expanding its borders. The city stepped onto the right bank of the Syr Darya, throwing two bridges across it. The right-bank part includes an extensive park area with beaches and sports facilities.

From year to year, Khujand became more and more beautiful, rapidly acquiring the appearance of a large, industrially developed city. In 1986 he celebrated his 2,500th birthday.

Historical landmarks of Khujand

Khujand fortress. This fortress was once an integral part of the city's fortification system. It was founded in the 6th - 5th centuries BC. During archaeological site carried out by the North-Tajik archaeological complex expedition, it was found that the Khujand fortress was first surrounded by an embankment, later by a wall of considerable thickness made of mud. The city and the citadel are integral parts of ancient Khujand; they had separate fortress walls surrounded by a wide and deep moat filled with water. The remains of these fortifications were found under the central part of the left-bank Khujand, they surround the territory ancient city with an area of ​​20 hectares.

With the development of the economy, trade, system of government and population growth, the city gradually expanded. In the 6th - 7th centuries it was erected new fortress... Khujand of the Middle Ages consisted of three main parts: a citadel, a shahristan and a rabad. The citadel was located on the banks of the Syr Darya at the gates of the rabad.

The medieval Khujand fortress was considered one of the most fortified in Central Asia.

In 1219 - 1220, during the invasion of Genghis Khan and his troops, a 25,000-strong army with 50,000 Central Asian captives was sent to siege the city. The heroic defense of the Khujand fortress and the island located not far from it on the Syr Darya under the leadership of Timurmalik became one of the most significant events in the history of Tajikistan and the entire Tajik region.

As a result of the Mongol invasion, the Khujand fortress was destroyed. According to the historian Hofiz Abru, at the beginning of the 15th century, the fortress lay in ruins. According to Zakhiriddin Babur, at the end of the same century, the fortress was restored and was the residence of the local ruler.

Masjidi Jami Mosque. The mosque was built in 1512-1513. Ivan, consisting of 30 columns, adjoins the eastern wall of the winter hall, which is also multi-column (20 columns), and enters the inner courtyard of the mosque.

The long southern wall of the mosque without any openings faces Shark Street. Only on the right, at the edge of the wall, is the entrance device of the darvoz-khona with a deep pestak - a portal. The arrangement of the columns in the mosque is subordinated to the modular grid: on the iwan, six rows of four columns (30 modular squares) are repeated, and in the winter room - five rows of four columns. The two middle columns along the northern façade of the aivan are finished with full-height carvings and bear an elevated part of the architrave with massive type-setting stalactites that have preserved the remains of the painting. At the entrance and above the mihrab, three plank squares of the ceiling are painted, but the colors darkened a lot and partly crumbled. The walls are covered with good carved decor, mostly geometric motifs. Both doors of the winter hall are distinguished by fine and graceful carvings. The roof of the mosque is flat earthen with clay-adobe coating. The foundation on which the walls of the building stand is made of burnt bricks. The inner courtyard of the mosque from the east and partly from the north is bounded by one-story hujras.

In the northeastern part of the courtyard, there is a minaret with a traditional lantern, decorated with arched openings, from where a beautiful panorama of the city opens. The entrance portal, facing Shark Street, is distinguished by tiled cladding and carved ganch panels along the facade. The high portal is only a front decorative wall made of baked bricks, supplemented from the northern side by two-storey adobe buildings with a wooden aivan at the top.

The mosque, as a whole, has a surprisingly harmonious image and is a magnificent example of the synthesis of decorative arts and building culture of Khujand.

Monument to Kamol Khujandi. The monument was erected in 1996 in honor of the 675th anniversary of the poet's birth. It is located on the Star Square of Khujand. In the background, wings are depicted, personifying the holiness of man and at the same time denoting the wings of poetry inspiration. The poet's face is turned towards the place of his birth and towards the setting of the sun. The height of the seated figure is 3.5 m, the height of the wings is 5.5 m.

In order to show the image of a strong, spiritually rich person who has made many travels, the sculpture was specially created barefoot, in accordance with the existing canons of the beauty of the human body, embodied in sculpture.

Tourism

In addition to its ancient sights, Khujand can offer tourists some types active tours... The famous Kairakkum reservoir is located not far from Khujand. It arose as a result of the construction of a hydroelectric power station on the Syrdarya river. Mild climate, extraordinary beautiful nature, the transparent surface of the man-made lake makes it possible to actively relax here: these are boat trips, windsurfing, fishing, excursions to archaeological sites.