What is the origin of the ornate ceilings and columns in Tashkent Metro stations?
In Tashkent, Uzbekistan, hundreds of thousands of people take the metro every day to go to work, school, and home. Above the platforms are turquoise domes, mosaic ceilings, marble columns, and chandeliers, but locals wait for the train without paying them much attention.
The Tashkent Metro was developed as part of the city's public transport plan after the 1966 earthquake and opened in 1977 as Central Asia's first metro. Its stations are decorated with themes such as Uzbek literature, astronomy, cotton, and space. After the photography ban was lifted in 2018, outside visitors sometimes look up and take photos of the ceilings.
For locals, these are stations they pass through every day; for visitors, the literature, astronomy, cotton, and space motifs above a platform during the morning commute stand out.
