Sarazm

Stefano Zaccaria/Shutterstock

Low mudbrick walls of an excavated settlement, including a large circular structure, under a modern canopy with hills behind.

Unesco-listed Sarazm is a 5500-year-old site 15km west of Penjikent. One of the oldest city-sites in Central Asia, finds here include a fire temple and the grave of a wealthy woman whose lapis beads and seashell bracelets from around the 4th century BC are now on show in Dushanbe's National Museum.