These two buildings, designed by military engineer Stanislav Kazimirovich Glinka-Yanchevsky, are well-known to Tashkent residents. Their beautiful brickwork, characteristic of pre-revolutionary Turkestan architecture, draws attention. The buildings are separated by Broadway, the local nickname for the current Sayilgoh Street, formerly Karl Marx Street, and earlier still, Sobornaya Street.

Before the revolution, the buildings housed gymnasiums: the one on the right, built in 1878, was a boys’ gymnasium, while the one on the left, constructed in 1879, was a girls’ gymnasium. Each gymnasium consisted of an ensemble of three separate structures connected by a gallery. However, in 1906, the spaces between them were filled in according to a design by architect G. M. Svarichevsky, making them appear as single, cohesive buildings. The most famous alumnus of the gymnasium was A. F. Kerensky, who later became the Chairman of the Russian Provisional Government.

After the revolution, the buildings housed the Central Asian State University. In the 1930s, a third floor was added to both buildings, preserving their architectural style. As the university expanded, some faculties—such as chemistry and geology—moved to separate buildings. The biology and soil science faculty remained in the right building the longest, but after the opening of a new university campus, nearly all faculties relocated. The gymnasium buildings then housed the Automotive Institute and the law faculty of what was then Tashkent State University, now the National University of Uzbekistan. Today, they are home to the Tashkent State Law University.

The buildings frame Amir Temur Square from the west, where this side of the roughly circular square is a straight line. All monuments that have stood on the square over time, including the current monument to Amir Temur, face west. Thus, their gaze is directed toward these beautiful historic gymnasium buildings, which, along with a few other surviving structures, serve as a testament to Turkestan architecture.