Notes on the Geography of Uzbekistan: Bukhara: RussianIn 1887 the Central Asian Railway opened a station at Kagan, or New Bukhara. Call it Globalization Knocks.
Make default image size larger ![]() Between Bukhara and New Bukhara the Emir Abdul Ahad in 1895 built a palace in anticipation of a royal visit that never happened. The architect was Alexei Benois, who also designed the Romanov mansion in Tashkent. ![]() The Palace That Never Was is a fusion of architectural styles from the East and West. Here's the entrance hall built for the czar. ![]() The walls are decorated with paintings of European Russia. ![]() There's a ball-room, too, though the floor, stage, and ceiling are all Soviet-era modifications. ![]() The other end of the building is in a completely different style. ![]() Here's the emir's entrance. ![]() The emir's office. ![]() The building has had various incarnations since 1920, mostly as the property of the railway administration. Perhaps that explains the spartan furnishings. ![]() Which style dominates? The local wins on trim, but the nuts and bolts are imported. ![]() A more modest case of Russification, here's the iconostasis of the Orthodox church in Kagan. ![]() More recently, Bukhara has filled up with Soviet-era housing. The city has four new housing areas or rayons, each built for 40,000 people. Each of the four is composed of four microrayons, of 10,000 people each. And--you can guess--each microrayon is composed of four large apartment buildings. Since the breakup of the U.S.S.R., the apartments have been sold to their occupants. ![]() Another example of Soviet-era housing. ![]() Salaries are very low: a young university graduate working as an examiner for the Central Bank is considered well off with a monthly salary of $70. That's more than twice the minimum wage for government workers. Still, free markets make rich people, and on the outskirts of town a car dealer has built himself this palace. |
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