Tashkent Chimes

History

The Chimes were inaugurated on 9 May 1947 to celebrate victory in the Second World War. The idea came from I. A. Eisenstein, a clockmaker from a family of clockmakers, who had served as a quartermaster during the war and removed a slightly damaged clock mechanism from the town hall of Allenstein in East Prussia. The tower was designed by A. A. Mukhamedshin, with decoration involving master Shirin Muradov.

Thirty metres tall and decorated in the national architectural tradition, the tower has four clock faces. The clock was damaged in the 1966 earthquake and repaired, and in 2009 the building was restored and a mirror-image twin built beside it. It is listed as cultural heritage of national significance and is one of the city's symbols.