Many tourists come to sunny Uzbekistan to admire the unique Eastern architecture and get acquainted with the lifestyle of this hospitable country. But today, we won't take a stroll through the streets of ancient cities; instead, we'll go on a tour of the Tashkent Polytechnical Museum. I believe it's one of the most interesting non-historical exhibition spaces in the city.
How to Get There by Metro
The address of the complex is 13 Amir Temur Street. Nearby are the stations "Minguryuk" and "Amir Temur Square", about a ten-minute walk from them to the museum.
In winter 2024, the entrance fee for tourists here was 20,000 Uzbek soums. You can pay the entrance fee in cash or by bank cards. According to the price list, guests can also order the services of a guide, but I decided to explore the exhibition on my own.
Touring the Museum
The museum's exhibition space is divided into several parts: on the first floor, there are two exhibitions - "History of World Automotive Engineering" and "History of the Automotive Industry of Uzbekistan". The second floor is occupied by the so-called "Interactive Workshop".
I started my museum tour with what I found the most interesting part, which is a collection of retro cars. I didn't come across information about how many pieces of equipment are stored here, but by my estimation, the exhibition includes no fewer than thirty vehicles.
The collection includes both primitive means of transportation like the Khorezm cart from the 19th century, and huge luxurious cars from the fleet of leaders of Soviet republics.
The exhibition in this part of the museum features Ford V8 Super Deluxe, Chevrolet Bel Air, GAZ-69, "Moskvich-400", ZAZ-965, GAZ-21 "Volga", GAZ-13 "Chaika", GAZ-14 "Chaika", and other cars. A small part of the hall is occupied by an exhibition of agricultural machinery. On the walls of the exhibition space are plaques with historical photographs and interesting facts.
The second half of the first floor of the museum is occupied by the exhibition "History of the Automotive Industry of Uzbekistan", which presents more modern models of vehicles. As written on the museum's official website, special attention here is given to exhibits with the autograph of the country's first president, Islam Karimov. Presumably, this exhibition will be expanded. It is written online that the automotive industry occupies one of the leading positions in the country's economy, and overall about 230 thousand residents of Uzbekistan are employed in the industry.
The second floor of the Polytechnical Museum features numerous interactive exhibits explaining the laws of physics. Presumably, this part of the exhibition will be more interesting for those who come here with children, although adults may also find something unusual here. For example, I peeked into the mirror maze and entered the room of illusions.
It is worth noting that the museum has several exhibits that are operated only at strictly defined times. Among them, for example, is the installation "Kinetic Balls", which is switched on four times a day. The exhibition was created by students of the Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent, and it consists of many metal balls on suspensions forming various whimsical figures.
Finally, I would like to note that last year I already talked about one of the most interesting exhibitions of retro cars, which is located in the Rahmi Koç Museum in Istanbul.
Have a nice trip!
