Altyn Bazaar

Start your walk around the old bazaar at one of the oldest passageways on Lenin Street, near the historical Sheyit-Tepe neighborhood. It is not visible from the street, as the passageway is hidden by billboards. It is a narrow, somewhat winding passageway between residential houses and commercial premises built along a precipice.

Because of its distinctive appearance, this passageway is often used as a filming location for shots of oriental cities with their narrow streets. In 1983, famous Kyrgyz director Bolot Shamshiev filmed a chase scene here for his blockbuster “The Wolf Pit,” dedicated to the fight against organized crime. It was the first Soviet film about the mafia.

Down this passageway we come to Altyn Bazar (Golden Bazaar), where mostly women are busily trading in jewellery, with gold, of course, being the most common item. Silver jewellery is not much in demand among the local beauties. There’s a lively trade in the street, no shops or jewellers’ brands. There are jewellers’ stalls on the sides of the alleys, where you can get your pieces sized or valued.

Most sought-after by local women are solid gold pieces without any impurities or stones. For Osh women, such jewellery serves as a kind of savings account. All jewellery given to her at her wedding or purchased after marriage is her personal property, which she can dispose of at her discretion. That is why women try to buy jewellery with the highest gold content available. During their lives, they sell and trade these pieces, pawning them at pawnshops when necessary.

It is difficult to sell or exchange modern or designer jewelry with a low gold content. Therefore, in this market you will not find such items. But on the other hand, you can buy antique red ruby rings and earrings, which were popular in the early and mid- 20^th century, and jewellery in an oriental style.