Margilan

Margilan has produced silk since at least the medieval period and remains the centre of the trade in the Fergana valley, where the cloth called atlas and adras is made by ikat: the threads are tied and dyed before weaving so the pattern emerges blurred at the edges. The Yodgorlik factory works the whole process by hand, from cocoon to loom. UNESCO placed the town's crafts centre on its register of good safeguarding practices in 2017.

Background

Legend credits Alexander the Great with founding the town: on a stop there he was served chicken, murgh, and bread, nan, and the name grew from the two words. More reliable records place Margilan as an important Silk Road halt by the 9th century, on the route over the Alay Mountains to Kashgar. Archaeological work in 1994-2004 revealed irrigated farming in the oasis no later than IV-III centuries BC. The Yodgorlik factory, set up in 1983 to keep traditional weaving alive against industrialisation, colours its silk with natural mineral and vegetable dyes. The Khonakhan Mosque dates from the 16th century and has two minarets, each 26 meters high. The 2024 census counted 253,500 people.

Source: Wikipedia, "Margilan"

What you'll find

• The ikat process - threads tied and dyed before weaving, giving the blurred pattern.
• The Yodgorlik factory - the whole sequence from cocoon to loom worked by hand.
• The Kumtepa bazaar - the cloth market outside the town, busiest at weekends.
• The UNESCO listing - the crafts centre on the register of good safeguarding practices.

When to go

April to June and September to October are the comfortable months. Kumtepa bazaar is busiest on Thursdays and Sundays. Summer in the valley is very hot.

Before you go

Factory tours end in a shop and the selling is persistent. Much of what is sold as hand-woven is not. Summer heat in the Fergana valley is severe.

Nearby

Fergana is southeast, and Rishtan is southwest.

Key facts