CHORSU QUARTER AND THE HAST IMAM ENSEMBLE

The Chorsu district, north of the bazaar, is one of the few to have survived the 1966 earthquake virtually intact. A stroll through this labyrinth of blind alleyways, most of which end in dead ends, will give you an idea of what Uzbekistan's capital looked like before the disaster radically changed its urban planning.

At the heart of this district, arguably the most interesting to visit in Tashkent, is the ^16th-century Barak Khan Madrasa, now the center of the Grand Mufti of Central Asia. Tourists can enter and discover the rose garden and a few open cells, some of which have been renovated as conference rooms. Opposite, the Tellia Sheikh Mosque dates from the ^19th century. The Koran of Caliph Osman, considered the oldest in the world, is preserved here, but entry is forbidden to non-Muslims. A little further along, on the left-hand side of the square, the ^16th-century Abu Bakhr Kaffal Shashi mausoleum was erected on the site of the tomb of one of the first imams, who died in 976. The mosque opposite the Barak Khan madrasa was built on a former wasteland in 2007, when the district was renovated.

It's as you wander deeper into the alleyways leading off from the square that the walk takes on its full meaning. Here you'll find everything that makes up the country's identity, including the unmissable chaikhanas where the aksakal, the elders who administer life in the district, meet.