The Silk Valley

Fergana

Uzbekistan's most fertile and warmest region — the world capital of atlas silk, Rishtan ceramics and medieval khanate palaces.

~ 14 million

Valley population

~ 80 (Margilan)

Silk factories

Warmest in the country

Climate

Silk, ceramics, wine

Main products

Iconic places

The face of Fergana

The Valley — Uzbekistan's most fertile region

The warmest valley

The Fergana Valley is an anomaly in Central Asia: fourteen million people on a tiny territory surrounded by mountains, the country's warmest climate, and a concentration of artisan schools thousands of years old.

The Juma Mosque in Kokand — a Fergana-school landmark

Silk by 14th-century technology

Margilan is the world capital of atlas — a silk fabric with a shimmering ikat pattern. The Yodgorlik factory has been running since 1972 but uses 14th-century technology: mulberry-silkworm cocoons are boiled in vats, threads are drawn by hand, and the looms are run by masters who learned from their fathers and grandfathers.

Blue ceramics and a palace

In Rishtan they have made blue ceramics for two hundred years — a glaze with a special cobalt formula kept secret by local masters. Kokand was the capital of the Khanate of Kokand, and Khudoyar Khan's palace survives in full: dozens of halls with carved wooden detailing and ceramic panels.

Practical info