Two years ago, several buildings in central Bukhara, including the regional administration building built during the Soviet era and considered a spiritual symbol of the city, were demolished to make way for the construction of the «Boqiy Bukhara» ethnographic tourism center. Today, the site is fenced off and empty.

The demolition sparked negative reactions from residents on social media. International cultural heritage protection organizations expressed concern and called for a halt to construction.

On April 24, during an open meeting of the Cultural Heritage Agency, a Kun.uz correspondent asked why the project was frozen and whether the plan had been thoroughly developed before demolition. Agency head Bakhodir Abdikarimov declined to comment, promising a separate press conference on Bukhara.

In 2024, the architectural organization Alerte Heritage called the ethnotourism center project «absurd». The organization stated: «Next to one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Central Asia, fake old-style buildings could be built. Such fakes might look ridiculous, like in Las Vegas or Macau, alienating locals and deterring tourists».

Officials previously stated that the $470 million tourism center in Bukhara would be funded by an investor. Later, sources linked the suspension of work to financial problems of the selected investor.

Source: kun.uz