Inside Uzbekistan's new landmark housing one of the world's oldest Qurans

From the outside, the first thing you notice is the blue.

Rising above Tashkent's historic Hazrati Imam area, a vast turquoise dome crowns the newly opened Islamic Civilization Center in Uzbekistan. Below it, monumental arched entrances, Qur'anic calligraphy and intricate blue tilework give the building the appearance of something much older than it actually is.

Khaleej Times got a closer look inside the centre during the International Media Forum, “Islamic Civilization: A New Perspective, New Discoveries”, held in Tashkent in August, exploring its vast galleries, rare manuscripts and interactive exhibits.

Step inside, however, and the experience changes.

The Islamic Civilization Center is crowned by a vast blue dome and features architectural elements inspired by Uzbekistan's Islamic heritage

Digital screens sit beneath towering mosaics. Historical manuscripts are displayed alongside interactive installations. Rooms dedicated to scholars who lived centuries ago use modern technology to explain their discoveries. In one section, visitors encounter the intellectual history of Central Asia through touchscreens and digital displays, while elsewhere textiles, ceramics, archaeological objects and centuries-old books fill glass cases.

Opened on March 17, 2026, the Islamic Civilization Center is one of Uzbekistan's newest cultural landmarks. The complex occupies around 10 hectares, with a three-storey building measuring 161 metres by 118 metres and crowned by a dome reaching 65 metres.

But its scale is only part of the story.

The centre has been designed to take visitors through thousands of years of the region's history, beginning before the arrival of Islam and moving through periods of scientific and cultural flourishing before arriving at modern Uzbekistan.

Its main museum journey is divided into Pre-Islamic Heritage, the First Renaissance, the Second Renaissance and New Uzbekistan, The Foundation of a New Renaissance. Beyond these are the Gallery of Great Figures, the centre's library, a children's museum and, at the heart of the complex, the Qur'an Hall.

Monumental artworks and digital displays are incorporated throughout the centre's galleries, which take visitors through different periods of Central Asian history

Walking through 3,000 years

The journey begins well before the Islamic period.

The Pre-Islamic section introduces the civilisations that once occupied what is now Uzbekistan and the wider Central Asian region, including Sogdiana, Bactria and Khorezm. Archaeological discoveries, ancient coins, textiles, objects and early forms of writing establish a history that stretches back thousands of years.

Then the atmosphere begins to change.

The First Renaissance focuses on the period when Central Asia became one of the major centres of scholarship in the Islamic world. Mathematics, astronomy, medicine, philosophy and religious scholarship are presented not simply through manuscripts behind glass, but through reconstructions and interactive technology.

Digital displays and interactive installations are used alongside historical objects to explain the scientific and intellectual contributions of scholars from the region

Some of the names are instantly recognisable.

Muhammad Al-Khwarizmi, whose work helped shape the development of algebra. Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni, who wrote across astronomy, mathematics and geography. Ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna, whose writings on medicine would remain influential for centuries.

Interactive displays allow visitors to explore their work, while digital avatars are used to introduce historical scholars and their ideas.

The Second Renaissance moves into the Timurid era, spanning the 14th to 16th centuries.

Historic textiles are among the objects displayed across the centre's galleries, alongside manuscripts, ceramics, archaeological finds and other artefacts

Here, the blues associated with the architecture of Samarkand begin appearing more prominently. Manuscripts, miniature paintings, architectural details and astronomical displays tell the story of a period when cities including Samarkand and Herat became major centres of science and culture.

Among the figures explored is Mirzo Ulugh Beg, the Timurid ruler and astronomer whose work included a remarkably detailed catalogue of stars. The centre uses models and projections to explain his astronomical research and the observatory he established in Samarkand.

The historical journey eventually reaches the present through New Uzbekistan, The Foundation of a New Renaissance, a section focused on the country's post-independence development and contemporary ambitions, including displays that use artificial intelligence and other digital technology.

At the heart of it all, the Qur'an Hall

The Qur'an Hall sits beneath the centre's monumental dome and forms the heart of the Islamic Civilization Center

Yet it is beneath the enormous central dome that the centre's most significant object is found.

The Qur'an Hall houses the Uthman Mushaf, a seventh-century Qur'anic manuscript and one of the oldest surviving copies of the Qur'an. The manuscript is included in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

The Qur'an Hall houses the Uthman Mushaf, a seventh-century Qur'anic manuscript and one of the oldest surviving copies of the Qur'an

The hall feels deliberately different from the galleries surrounding it.

Visitors enter beneath a vast decorated dome, surrounded by intricate patterns, calligraphy and points of light. At its centre sits the manuscript, its oversized pages carrying lines of early Arabic script.

Around it are 114 rare Qur'anic manuscripts representing different periods and traditions of manuscript production. The collection includes works associated with the Samanid, Karakhanid, Ghaznavid, Timurid and Shaybanid periods.

Technology is incorporated here too. A mapping system beneath the dome creates a star-filled sky based on the night sky above Tashkent, while light and visual effects are used as part of the visitor experience.

It is perhaps the clearest expression of what the centre is trying to do: place centuries-old objects inside a museum that feels unmistakably contemporary.

More than a museum

The centre's ambitions extend beyond tourism.

Its upper levels include a library containing manuscripts, lithographs, printed publications and hundreds of thousands of electronic materials, while the wider complex incorporates research, restoration and digital preservation facilities.

At the International Media Forum held at the centre in August, its director, Dr Firdavs Abdukhalikov, described that wider mission as making historical heritage accessible through contemporary media and technology.

The idea, he said, is that history should not remain simply behind museum glass.

That philosophy is visible throughout the building. One moment you are standing in front of a centuries-old manuscript, the next you are looking at a digital reconstruction, an interactive map or a screen bringing the work of a medieval scholar into the present.

And that may be the most interesting thing about Uzbekistan's newest cultural landmark.

The Islamic Civilization Center does not present the country's history as a single chapter of Islamic heritage. Instead, it attempts to connect what came before Islam, the scholars and empires that followed, and the Uzbekistan that exists today, all beneath one enormous blue dome.

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