Marghilon Travel Guide

 
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  • Final stage of the silk making process
      Final stage of the silk making process
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  • The first stage of the silk making process
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      Yodgorlik Silk Factory - entrance
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Explore Marghilon

Things to Do  

Visit Yodgorlik Silk Factory

Visit Yodgorlik Silk Factory, Marghilon

 Trekki Says:  According to their website, it is the biggest silk manufacturing factory in Uzbekistan where most of the work is done by hand and where mostly natural dyes are used to colour the silk. From what I saw I believe it, the site is huge and except for the silk cocoon part (it was... 

Yodgorlik Silk Factory

Yodgorlik Silk Factory, Marghilon

 Backpackin_Mac Says:  Noit many people seem to add Margilon to their itinary but it is well worth a visit. Very good tour of the silk factory where you can see the whole process take place. 

Yodgorlik Silk Factory

Yodgorlik Silk Factory, Marghilon

 Backpackin_Mac Says:  Here is the third stage of the silk making process. The room was unbelievably hot and it must have been very hard for the women working there. 

Yodgorlik Silk Factory

Yodgorlik Silk Factory, Marghilon

 Backpackin_Mac Says:  At the Yodgorlik Silk factory you are able to take a tour of the silk factory. They won't mention it until after the tour, if you buy something the tour will be free, if you don't they might ask for a $1 donation which is very fair because the tour is excellent. 

Shopping  

Finest shopping at Yodgorlik Silk Factory
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Trekki 2248 reviews
Christina, Yodgorlik Silk Factory (inside shop)

Either before or after the factory tour you can also buy at their shop. I can only highly recommend to buy here (rather than in the bazaars wherever you are in Uzbekistan), as you can be 100% sure that all silk was made here and you will get very reasonable prices = the real prices.
The shop might look small, but they have a huge storage behind it, and can show you almost everything you want to have. They sell silk by the metre, short scarves, long and broad ones, tablecloth, and even clothes.
As mentioned earlier, you have the choice between pure silk or mixture of silk and cotton (one material for the warp and the other for the weft). Pure silk of course, is more expensive.

The scarves I bought were 8 USD each, the bigger ones would have been 15 USD (the size you could use as poncho style scarf). Suzanis are of course more expensive, as in addition to the silk cloth, the embroidery is purely done by hand. A piece of 30 x 30 cm would have been 30 USD.

Check the website below – for patterns and colours, and also prices at the bottom of each page. The first ones are for the cloth by the metre, the price is per metre (2,40 USD for the Atlas silk for example). Switch to see the different products also at the bottom.

Updated Apr 4, 2011

Address: 138, Imam Zahiriddin Street

Phone: ++ 998 - 3732 - 33 67 61

Related to:
 Luxury Travel
 Arts and Culture
 Road Trip

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Local Customs  

Beautiful silk carpets

Beautiful silk carpets, Marghilon

 Trekki Says:  As I wrote earlier, not only silk cloth is made here, but silk carpets as well. Christina showed the room where the girls worked on suzanis and on silk carpets (photo 2: suzani work on the left, silk carpet on the right). On photo 1 is the carpet, that was finished just... 

Weaving – or traditional loom

Weaving – or traditional loom, Marghilon

 Trekki Says:  Now for the most fascinating process of silk weaving – the girls at the wooden looms. It already fascinated me in Khiva, to see how quick the girls are handling the looms and how quick centimetre for centimentre of woven silk is growing. I have borrowed some of my Khiva... 

Weaving – with machine

Weaving – with machine, Marghilon

 Trekki Says:  Although most attention at Yodgorlik Silk Factory is drawn to hand made and unique silk cloth, they also have a couple of machines to weave the bales. From all the clothes, Uzbek women were wearing, I could see that tradition is held high, so the demand for more reasonable... 

Dyeing the silk – and the ready-to-use bale

Dyeing the silk – and the ready-to-use bale, Marghilon

 Trekki Says:  The process, described before, is now repeated until the whole silk thread is completely dyed (or white parts left white) according to the desired pattern. Dyeing is done in a separate room, they use natural material (mostly plants) to dye. Onion peels are used to colour... 

Preparation of the dyeing

Preparation of the dyeing, Marghilon

 Trekki Says:  (haha, while writing I realise that this is the most difficult part to describe….. with my non-native English…. Don’t get desperate please, if it sounds bwwaaa) The threads, which have been wound on the 2 metre reel are then prepared for dyeing.The magic of Uzbek silk is the... 

Now the cruel part – obtaining the filaments

Now the cruel part – obtaining the filaments, Marghilon

 Trekki Says:  As I was here in August (2006), it was already too late to see the cocoon steaming. But also here, a good website exists for those of you who are interested in seeing this part.A finished cocoon consists of approx. 1000 m of a single silk thread. A cocoon has to be further... 

Feeding the hungry little worms

Feeding the hungry little worms, Marghilon

 Trekki Says:  This is something I only know from reading, as I was in Uzbekistan too late (August) to see a silk worm hatchery. But I cannot describe the silk process without giving a bit of explanation about the real manufacturers of silk – the worms.It is nicely described in Lonley... 

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