The Tashkent Venice

Tashkent, the narrow streets of the old city near the Hazreti Imam ensemble, or as people say – Khast Imam. A traveler, passing through the streets of mahallas, seems to be transported 50, or even 100 years ago, into the past. 

Mahalla is a unique phenomenon of the Uzbek people, thanks to which Uzbeks have been considered merciful since ancient times and never refuse to help. It so happened that each mahalla had to have one mosque, and the boundary of the mahalla was determined by the extreme houses in the radius around the mosque, to which the voice of the muezzin could be heard calling for prayer. All residents of the mahalla have never refused to help each other both on holidays and on mournful days. 

One of these mahallas is located on the bank of the Kalkauz Canal, not far from Hazreti Imam ensemble and is rightfully considered the Tashkent Venice. Yes, of course, the mahalla is not all on the water, like Venice, and people don't swim on gondolas here, however, the picturesque streets fascinate with houses on the foundations in the water, especially since water has always been a shortage for the hot climate of Tashkent. 

Kalkauz, together with the Ankhor Canal, are two branches of the Bozsu canal. The Kalkauz Canal is named after the mythical hero from the book “Shahnameh”. According to one of the legends, Kalkauz dreamed of flying, and one day he built a throne on which, thanks to the eagles, he reached China, where he fell down, but still managed to survive. 

The mahalla around Kalkauz is very clean, there are numerous bridges over the canal, and the further into the mahalla a traveler makes his way, the closer the water approaches the houses, and then completely goes underground.