Osh City
Osh is the administrative centre of Osh oblast and the second biggest city of Kyrgyzstan.
The city is situated in the east of the Fergana valley, at the altitude of 1000 m above sea level. The three sides of the city are surrounded with hills and not high rocks of Alai mountain ridge. One of the rocks more than 100 m high is in the centre of the city, it is called Sulaiman-Too. The city is divided into two parts by the swift mountainous river Ak-Bura. Osh is connected with the capital of Kyrgyzstan Bishkek by air line and mountainous high way 600 km long.
The climate of Osh is continental. Summer is hot and dry. The average temperature is 26° C. Absolute maximum of summer temperature is 42° C. Snow melts quickly. The average annual precipitation is 600 mm. Maximum precipitation is in spring and early summer. The second half of summer is very dry.
Osh is one of the most ancient cities of Central Asia. In 2000 Osh celebrated its three thousand’s anniversary. Osh was first mentioned in Arab sources of the 9-th century.
Almost nothing survived from the ancient Osh. According to the archaeological data the ancient Osh was surrounded by a fortified wall with three gates, inside there was a citadel surrounded with shakhristan. Mosque was near the bazaar not far from the Ak-Bura river. In the 11-th century when Uzghen city became the capital of the Fergana Ilekhans, Osh became of great economic and cultural importance in the region. The ancient trade way from Central Asia to the Eastern Turkestan passed through Osh.
In the 16-th century Osh became one of the religious centres in Fergana because according to the legend Osh was founded by Prophet Sulaiman. The city had large and noisy bazaars, mosques and medreses, skillful craftsmen, nice houses of wealthy people. The planning and construction of the old Osh was typical for the medieval Central Asia: narrow crooked streets, blind alleys surrounded with high clay fences, huts with flat roofs, mosques with aivans, monumental medreses.
Osh began to lose its position because Andijan city came to the fore. Gradually Osh turned into a minor city of Fergana valley.
After Kyrgyzstan joined Russia, in 1880-s a new city appeared in the south of the old Osh. The New Osh was rapidly constructed by Russian migrants. They built houses, barracks, a church. In 1887 in Osh there were 6400 buildings, among them: 100 mosques, 54 medrese, 2 churches, a temple, chemist’s shop, hospital, Russian-Kyrgyz school, bazaar with shops and handicrafts. The city had: a flour-mill, an oil-mill, two small brewery mills, leather factory, weaving, shoemaking, pottery work shops. Citizens were engaged in silkworm breeding, gardening, craftsmanship and trade.
The New city was constructed according to the plan made by military topographers. The streets were wide and straight with many green trees. Houses had traditional Russian planning but they were adapted to local conditions.
After the Socialist Revolution, textile industry developed in Osh, that laid the basis for construction development.
In 1931 a railway was built from Kara-Suu to Osh. Later many industrial enterprises were built in Osh: one of the largest in Central Asia cotton and silk producing factory, Central Heating Station, airport, factories for metal working, machine building, wood processing, food and light industries.
There are cinemas, theatres, libraries, higher educational institutions in the city. Osh is the industrial and cultural centre of Southern Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, Osh is called the southern capital of Kyrgyzstan.
The most remarkable sights of Osh are: Osh Historical and Cultural Museum, petroglyphs of Sulaiman-Too, Ak-Bura Fortress (1-st - 12-th centuries), architectural sites: Asaf-ibn-Burkhiya Mausoleum (11-th - 17-th centuries), Ravat-Abdullakhan Mosque (17-th - 18-th centuries), Muhammed Yusuf Baihoji-Ogly Mosque (1909). The central colourful oriental bazaar is also one of the interesting sights of Osh.
Museum “Great Silk Road” has been opened in Osh. The unique exhibits tell about the epochs of development of the tangible heritage of the peoples of the region; from the Stone Age to our days. Mainly they are findings of archaeologists, historians, ethnographers.