Al-Fergani Park, Fergana

Fergana city is the newest of the valley's towns and the most practical base for exploring them. It was founded in 1876, the year the Kokand khanate was abolished, as a Russian military and administrative centre called New Margelan. In 1907 it was renamed Skobelev after Mikhail Skobelev, the first Russian military governor of the region, and in 1924 it took its present name. Its plan still shows its origins: broad avenues radiating from the site of the old fortress, lined with plane trees and single-storey colonial houses, many of them now government offices.

At the centre lies the park named after Ahmad al-Farghani, the 9th-century astronomer known in medieval Europe as Alfraganus, whose summary of Ptolemaic astronomy was read for centuries in Latin translation and whose estimate of the Earth's circumference was cited by Christopher Columbus. A monument to him stands in the park.

A green centre

The park itself is the city's living room: tree-shaded paths, lawns, fountains, a pond, cafés and rides for children. In the summer heat, which regularly passes 35°C in the valley, it is where Fergana comes in the evening, and its scale makes it one of the largest green spaces in the region. There is nothing to tick off here, but after a day of workshops and bazaars it is a pleasant place to walk, eat an ice cream and watch the town.

Around the centre

Within walking distance are the main avenues of the old colonial town and the regional drama theatre, which is said to occupy the former residence of the Russian governor, built in the 1870s. Fergana also has the widest choice of hotels and restaurants in the valley, which is why most itineraries spend the night here.

Visiting

The park is open daily and free. Come in the late afternoon or evening, especially from May to September. Margilan is 20 minutes away by car, Rishtan about an hour, and the airport has domestic flights to Tashkent.