Tag: Culture

  • Osh Pilau

    Pilau, or “ash” in Kyrgyz, is Osh’s signature dish! It’s probably no coincidence that the name of the city and of its most famous food sound so similar. In Osh, they cook a classic variant of pilau, which differs from those found in Tashkent or Samarkand. There are similarities with the variations of pilau in…

  • The road to the Pamirs starts in Osh!

    The Pamir Highway begins in Osh! The Pamir Highway, one of the highest mountain routes in the world, is an extraordinary landmark and starts right here. It was laid along the old Silk Road caravan routes in 1894 by engineers of the Imperial Russian Army led by Mickiewicz, Burakovsky and Zarakovsky.

  • Osh Fortress

    The Osh fortress was built in 1919 on the site of the former Tsarist Russian military barracks, located in the very center of the “new city” at the intersection of Kurmanjan Datka and Lomonosov streets.

  • Bridges and Ak-Buura

    Osh is a city of countless small bridges. Walking around the city, we often do not notice that we are crossing them, and that below us are numerous canals. Most of the bridges are located on the Ak-Buura River. It flows through the center of Osh, dividing the city into right and left banks. At…

  • Mosaics as symbols of the era

    Monumental mosaics, still preserved on some buildings in Osh, are an instantly-recognizable hallmark of the Soviet period in the history of the city. The first mosaic panels, imbued with the spirit of that time, appeared in Osh in the 1960s and 1970s, during the general reconstruction of the city. They varied in subject matter and…

  • Monuments as symbols of changing eras

    An imposing monument to Communist leader Vladimir Lenin, erected in May 1985, still stands in Osh’s central square. The statue itself is 11 metres high and rises on a 12-metre plinth. The originator of the project, Soviet sculptor Nikolai Tomsky, died a year before its opening. He is well-known as the artist behind many of…

  • Soviet city near the Alai Mountains

    Welcome to Soviet Osh! The current appearance of the city was largely formed during that period. The Second World War delayed the realization of the city’s development projects, planned in the late 1930s. Therefore, the complete general reconstruction of Osh began in 1949.

  • The very first theatre in Kyrgyzstan!

    Osh’s theatrical history began in 1877, when local amateur theatres staged the play “Judgment of Men, Not of God” and the vaudeville production “Scandal in a Noble Family.” A drama club was opened in the military assembly of the 4th Turkestan Line Battalion.

  • Museum of Fine Arts

    The Osh Regional Museum of Fine Arts named after Turgunbai Sadykov is the newest of the local museums. It was opened in 2014 at the initiative of local artists. It is nestled in the historic Artisans’ Quarter, adjoining the 16th century Rabat Abdullah Khan Mosque. The museum is housed in the building of the former…

  • National Drama Theatre

    The Osh National Drama Theatre named after Sultan Ibraimov is one of the largest and most famous theatres in Kyrgyzstan. The theatre company was established in 1972, but the artists rehearsed on the stage in the neighboring city of Jalal-Abad for two years, until the Osh theatre building was completed. In 1974, the theatre was…