In January 2025, one of Tashkent’s symbols — our TV tower — turned 40 years old. Originally designed for Baghdad, the project was cancelled after a coup in Iraq. At the insistence of the then-leader Sh. Rashidov and after numerous approvals, it was decided to build the tower in Tashkent at the city’s highest point. Construction began in 1978, lasted six years, and the tower was commissioned in January 1985.

To this day, the Tashkent TV Tower remains not only the tallest free-standing structure in Central Asia but also provides direct television broadcasting within an approximate 100-km radius, covering southern Kazakhstan and Syrdarya Region.

The unique design was developed by Soviet architects Nikolai Terziev-Tsarukov, Yuri Semashko, Vladislav Rusanov, and engineers Evgeny Morozov and Mikhail Musheyev.

Built with the region’s seismic risks in mind, the tower can withstand a 9-magnitude earthquake. Its stability is ensured by three cone-shaped supports, each 93 metres tall.

Our TV tower ranks 12th among the world’s tallest television towers and 38th among free-standing structures worldwide (9th at the time of commissioning).

In addition to television and radio broadcasting, it is a major tourist attraction: the rotating “Koinot” restaurant at 104 metres offers stunning panoramic views of the city. Photography and video restrictions have now been lifted — a big plus for tourists.

In December 2012, the tower received illumination, later enhanced with colourful cosmic lights that delight residents and visitors against the starry Tashkent sky.

Beyond its technical marvels, the tower is famous for a priceless work of art — the huge mosaic panel in the lobby at its base.

By a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, the tower has been granted the status of an architectural and urban-planning monument of Uzbekistan. In April 2024, the Culture and Arts Development Foundation included it in a list of 10 structures being prepared for nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List.