Teshik-Tash

Teshik-Tash is one of the oldest and most colorful passageways to the bazaar, dating back to ancient times. Long ago, it was the most common descent from residential quarters, laid out along the rocky soil on the precipices. Probably, it is from here that the name of this old passage, “Teshik-Tash”, which literally means “pierced stone,” derives.  The inhabitants used this path to go down to the bazaar without crossing the river.

Although the main gate to the bazaar was built in the 1980s in the form of a brick archway, the old passageways continue to be popular with the townspeople, and Teshik-Tash is no exception. In Soviet times, the old bazaar, with its narrow passageways and alleys, was often chosen as the shooting location of adventure films. Filmmakers filmed their “Easterns” or “Red Westerns,” as adventure films about the civil war from 1918-1920 were called, here. The old bazaar with its original architecture was an ideal place for shooting on location. In 1969, a young Kyrgyz director, Gennady Bazarov, shot his first full-length film “Ambush” in Osh, which dealt with the establishment of Soviet power in Osh oblast. The bazaar streets and the Teshik-Tash passageway were used to convey color. Film footage shows that these winding alleys have not changed at all.

For a long time, Teshik-Tash has been selling the tastiest manti in the city! There are manti steamers and samovars in its courtyards, and the whole surrounding neighbourhood is famous throughout Osh for its manti.

Step into the courtyard of a former residential building, now converted into a café perched a cliff, to get a sense of the neighborhood’s colorful spirit. Take a look at its exterior architecture, which hasn’t changed a bit since the area’s renovation. In the courtyard, you can see the layout of the rooms and the carvings on the wooden cornices. We suggest visiting the far room to get a glimpse of the bazaar from there. And of course, don’t leave without sitting down for a pot of tea and some of the best manti in Kyrgyzstan.