The Hidden Beauty of Tashkent’s Soviet-era Metro

Built as both a metro and a bomb shelter, Tashkent’s subway features mosaics, chandeliers, and Cold War engineering. Photography was banned until 2018.

Inside Cosmonaut Station, (2021), Tashkent, Uzbekistan.Credit: Stephane Cornille

Public transit was central to Communist ideology. In the 1930s, car production took a backseat to metro expansion, with top artists and sculptors enlisted to turn stations into grand public spaces.

Underground, soaring arches, patterned ceilings, and dazzling chandeliers gave the metro an almost palatial feel, while mosaics honored Soviet achievements in space and industry. At Cosmonauts Station, deep blue walls and a Milky Way glass ceiling pay tribute to the pioneers of the space race.

After a devastating earthquake in 1966, planners reinforced the metro, keeping tunnels close to the surface for added stability. For decades, photography inside the Tashkent metro was banned due to its secret second role as a nuclear bomb shelter. When the restriction was finally lifted in 2018, I traveled there in 2021. A ride costs just 1,200 Uzbek soms (12p), making it the cheapest subway trip in the former USSR.

Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, (2021), Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Credit: Stephane Cornille

A shimmering corridor linking two stations, (2018), Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Credit: Amos Chapple

The ticket kiosk where tickets cost 1,200 Uzbek soms (12p), (2018), Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Credit: Amos Chapple

A mosaic on the floor with the Uzbek SSR emblem, (2018), Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Credit: Amos Chapple

The hall where passengers wait for the next metro train, (2018), Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Credit: Amos Chapple

A monument to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, (2018), Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Credit: Amos Chapple

A mural celebrating 2,200 years since the founding of Tashkent, (2018), Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Credit: Amos Chapple