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Alisher Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre

The city's opera house, completed in 1947 to a design by Alexey Shchusev, with foyers decorated by craftsmen from different regions of Uzbekistan.

Ensembles1947

About the place

The theatre was designed by Alexey Shchusev, the architect of Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow, and opened in 1947 for the 500th anniversary of the poet Alisher Navoi. Japanese prisoners of war were among those who worked on the construction, which a plaque on the building records.

Several side foyers were each decorated by master craftsmen from one region, such as Bukhara, Khiva, Samarkand or Fergana, in carved plaster and painted wood. Seeing them side by side is a quick lesson in how regional ornament differs.

The building survived the 1966 earthquake that destroyed much of the city around it. It still stages opera and ballet, and an evening performance is the easiest way to see the interior.

Sources (1)

  1. 1.Wikidata

Nearby

  • Cotton FountainEnsembles

    Under 1 km away

    Cotton Fountain

    A protected fountain of 1950 on Theatre Square in front of the Alisher Navoi Theatre in Tashkent.

  • State Museum of History of UzbekistanMuseums

    Under 1 km away

    State Museum of History of Uzbekistan

    The country's main history museum, tracing the land from Stone Age finds through Buddhist, Islamic and Russian periods to independence.

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    A cluster of turquoise domes on a central Tashkent boulevard, a café pavilion of 1968–1970 that became a symbol of the rebuilt Soviet city.