Tashkent Museum Earns Guinness Record as Largest Institution Focused on Islamic Heritage

Subheadline: The newly completed Islamic Civilization Center, opened this year, is drawing thousands daily as Uzbekistan uses the site to promote research, education and a reworked national story

Guinness World Records on April 13 certified Uzbekistan’s Center of Islamic Civilization as the planet’s largest museum dedicated to Islamic heritage, an adjudicator announced at a ceremony in Tashkent. The recognition followed an on-site inspection by officials who cataloged exhibits and measured gallery space, and it was presented in the presence of the complex’s design team and members of its scientific advisory body.

The Guinness representative who led the evaluation praised the rigor of the review, saying specialists in archaeology, art history and related fields had documented each display and confirmed the institution met the criteria for the award. Architects and planners described the accolade as the culmination of years of coordinated work and international consultation, noting that the verification process relied on detailed inventories rather than impressions.

Work on the Center began in 2017 under the direction of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and the campus officially opened March 17, 2026, after nearly nine years of planning and construction — about nine-tenths of a decade. Organizers say the complex is neither a conventional museum nor a single research unit; it combines laboratories, exhibition halls and classrooms and aims to merge traditional scholarship with modern display technology to trace the historical contributions of Muslim societies.

Locals and tourists have flocked to the site, with officials reporting as many as five thousand visitors a day — roughly 5,000 people out of the flow of the capital’s daily foot traffic. The director of the center framed those figures as evidence that the project serves both neighborhood communities and international visitors, and he emphasized that sustaining educational programs remains the institution’s main priority even as it welcomes large crowds.

Independent commentators and local academics offered cautious praise. A humanities professor at a Tashkent university said the museum could broaden public understanding of regional intellectual history if it supports independent research and open exhibition practices. The lead architect described the building’s forms as rooted in local craft and historical motifs, while noting the design choices also aim to make the complex accessible to a wide audience.

Beyond the record itself, the Center fits a wider pattern in Central Asia where states invest in major cultural projects to shape identity and attract attention. For Uzbekistan, the initiative appears intended to pair national heritage with scholarly work and international programming, positioning the new museum as both a public destination and a platform for ongoing study.