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Uzbekistan
The region’s cradle of culture for more than two millennia, Uzbekistan is the proud home to a spellbinding arsenal of architecture and ancient cities, all deeply infused with the bloody, fascinating history of the Silk Road. In terms of sights alone, Uzbekistan is Central Asia's biggest draw and most impressive showstopper.
Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva never fail to impress visitors with their fabulous mosques, medressas and mausoleums, while its more eccentric attractions, such as the fast disappearing Aral Sea, the fortresses of desperately remote Karakalpakstan, its boom town capital Tashkent and the ecotourism opportunities of the Nuratau Mountains, mean that even the most diverse tastes can be catered for.
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Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Uzbekistan.
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Registan
This ensemble of majestic, tilting medressas – a near-overload of majolica, azure mosaics and vast, well-proportioned spaces – is the centrepiece of the city, and arguably the most awesome single sight in Central Asia. The three grand edifices here are among the world’s oldest preserved medressas, anything older having been destroyed by Chinggis Khan. The Registan, which translates to ‘Sandy Place’ in Tajik, was medieval Samarkand’s commercial centre and the plaza was probably a wall-to-wall bazaar. The three medressas have taken their knocks over the years courtesy of the frequent earthquakes that buffet the region; that they are still standing is a testament to the incredible craftsmanship of their builders. The Soviets, to their credit, worked feverishly to restore these beleaguered treasures, but they also took some questionable liberties, such as the capricious addition of a blue outer dome to the Tilla-Kari Medressa. For an idea of just how ruined the medressas were at the start of the 20th century, check out the excellent photo exhibit inside the Tilla-Kari Medressa. The Ulugbek Medressa, on the western side, is the original medressa, finished in 1420 under Ulugbek who is said to have taught mathematics here (other subjects taught here included theology, astronomy and philosophy). The stars on the portal reflect Ulugbek's love of astronomy. Beneath the little corner domes were lecture halls, now housing displays on Ulugbek, including copies of the 'Zij' (his writings on astronomy) and miniatures depicting Central Asian astronomers at work. At the rear is a large mosque with a beautiful blue painted interior and an austere teaching room to one side. Police guards occasionally offer to clandestinely escort visitors to the top of the medressa's minaret for around US$10. The other buildings are rough imitations by the Shaybanid Emir Yalangtush. The entrance portal of the Sher Dor (Lion) Medressa, opposite Ulugbek’s and finished in 1636, is decorated with roaring felines that look like tigers but are meant to be lions. The lions, the deer they are chasing and the Mongolian-faced, Zorostrian-inspired suns rising from their backs are all unusual, flouting Islamic prohibitions against the depiction of live animals. It took 17 years to build but hasn’t held up as well as the Ulugbek Medressa, built in just three years. In between them is the Tilla-Kari (Gold-Covered) Medressa, completed in 1660, with a pleasant, gardenlike courtyard. The highlight here is the mosque, which is on the left-hand side of the courtyard and is intricately decorated with blue and gold to symbolise Samarkand’s wealth. The mosque’s delicate ceiling, oozing gold leaf, is flat but its tapered design makes it look domed from the inside. The result is magnificent. Inside the mosque is an interesting picture gallery featuring blown-up B&W photos of old Samarkand. Several shops sell prints of these old photos. Most of the medressas’ former dormitory rooms are now art and souvenir shops. Be sure to visit the Registan in the evening to see if the impressive sound and light show is being projected. If a large group has paid for the show then other visitors can watch for free. Note that your entrance ticket is valid all day long, allowing you to come back and photograph the complex at the various times of day needed for the sunlight to be coming from the right direction. However, tell the complex security guards if you'd like to do this, otherwise they will tear your ticket and you won't be able to reuse it.
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Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum
The beautiful portal and trademark fluted azure dome of the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum marks the final resting place of Timur (Tamerlane), along with two sons and two grandsons (including Ulugbek). It's a surprisingly modest building, largely because Timur was never expecting to be buried here. The tilework and dome are particularly beautiful; be sure to return at night when the building is spotlit to grand effect. Timur had built a simple crypt for himself at Shakhrisabz, and had this one built in 1404 for his grandson and proposed heir, Mohammed Sultan, who had died the previous year. But the story goes that when Timur died unexpectedly of pneumonia in Kazakhstan (in the course of planning an expedition against the Chinese) in the winter of 1405, the passes back to Shakhrisabz were snowed in and he was interred here instead. As with other Muslim mausoleums, the stones are just markers; the actual crypts are in a chamber beneath. In the centre is Timur’s stone, once a single block of dark-green jade. In 1740 the warlord Nadir Shah carried it off to Persia, where it was accidentally broken in two – from which time Nadir Shah is said to have had a run of very bad luck, including the near death of his son. At the urging of his religious advisers he returned the stone to Samarkand and, of course, his son recovered. The plain marble marker to the left of Timur’s is that of Ulugbek; to the right is that of Mir Said Baraka, one of Timur’s spiritual advisors. In front lies Mohammed Sultan. The stones behind Timur’s mark the graves of his sons Shah Rukh (the father of Ulugbek) and Miran Shah. Behind these lies Sheikh Seyid Umar, the most revered of Timur’s teachers, said to be a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed. Timur ordered Gur-e-Amir built around Umar’s tomb. The Soviet anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov opened the crypts in 1941 and, among other things, confirmed that Timur was tall (1.7m) and lame in the right leg and right arm (from injuries suffered when he was 25) – and that Ulugbek died from being beheaded. According to every tour guide’s favourite anecdote, he found on Timur’s grave an inscription to the effect that ‘whoever opens this will be defeated by an enemy more fearsome than I’. The next day, 22 June, Hitler attacked the Soviet Union.
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Shah-i-Zinda
Samarkand’s most moving and beloved site is this stunning avenue of mausoleums, which contains some of the richest tilework in the Muslim world. The name, which means ‘Tomb of the Living King’, refers to its original, innermost and holiest shrine – a complex of cool, quiet rooms around what is probably the grave of Qusam ibn-Abbas, who is said to have brought Islam to this area in the 7th century. The most stunning Timurid-era tilework dates from 14th and 15th centuries. A shrine to Qusam, a cousin of the Prophet Mohammed, existed here on the edge of Afrosiab for around seven centuries before Timur (Tamerlane) and later Ulugbek buried their family and favourites near the sanctity of the original shrine. The most beautiful tomb is the Shodi Mulk Oko Mausoleum (1372), resting place of a sister and niece of Timur, second on the left after the entry stairs. The exquisite majolica and terracotta work here – notice the minuscule amount of space between the tiles – was of such exceptional quality that it merited almost no restoration. After remarkably surviving more than seven centuries with only minor touch-up work, many of the tombs were aggressively and controversially restored in 2005. As a result, much of the brilliant mosaic, majolica and terracotta work you see today is not original. Shah-i-Zinda is an important place of pilgrimage, so enter with respect and dress conservatively. Just outside the entrance are the foundations of a 15th-century tahorathana (bathhouse). At the end of the pathway between the mausoleums, the complex opens up into Samarkand's main cemetery, which is a fascinating place to walk.
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Ark
The spectacular-looking Ark, a royal town-within-a-town, is Bukhara’s oldest structure, occupied from the 5th century right up until 1920, when it was bombed by the Red Army. For centuries it was the residence of the emirs of Bukhara. It’s about 80% ruins but there are still some remaining royal quarters, now housing several interesting museums. At the top of the entrance ramp is the 17th-century Juma (Friday) Mosque, with some beautiful stalactite carved column heads. Next are the former living quarters of the emir’s kushbegi (prime minister), where foreign ambassadors were received and now houses exhibits on the nearby archaeological sites of Paikend, Varakhsha and Romitan, once important Silk Road trading centres. Second on the left is the oldest surviving part of the Ark, the vast Reception and Coronation Court, whose roof fell in during the 1920 bombardment. The last coronation to take place here was Alim Khan’s in 1910. The submerged chamber on the right wall was the treasury and mint, and behind this was the harem. To the right of the corridor were the open-air royal stables and the noghorahona – a room for drums and musical instruments used during public spectacles in the square below. Around the Salamhona (Protocol Court) at the end of the corridor are what remain of the royal apartments. These apparently fell into such disrepair that the last two emirs preferred full-time residence at the summer palace. The most interesting displays here cover Bukhara’s history from the Shaybanids to the tsars. Displays include a huge whip attributed to the mythical hero Rustam, the padlock that used to secure the Ark gates and a case used to make petitions to the emir. Another room contains the emir’s throne as well as portraits of the ill-fated British officers Stoddart and Conolly, who were eventually executed in front of the fortress on Registan Sq.
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Savitsky Museum
The Savitsky Museum houses one of the most remarkable art collections in the former Soviet Union. About half of the paintings were brought here in Soviet times by artist and ethnographer Igor Savitsky, who managed to preserve an entire generation of avant-garde work that was proscribed and destroyed elsewhere in the country for not conforming to the socialist realism of the times. The paintings found protection in these isolated backwaters (Nukus, after all, being literally the last place you'd look for anything) and it’s interesting to hear how this nonconformist museum survived during the Soviet era. An English-language guided tour can really help to contextualise the collection and acts as an introduction to the fascinating stories behind many of the paintings. The museum owns some 90,000 artefacts, including more than 15,000 paintings, only a fraction of which are actually on display. The museum also has some archaeological displays from the Ellik Kala fortresses, including Zoroastrian ossuaries from Shilpik (Chilpak) and a bodhisattva statue from Guldursan. There are also some ethnographic displays, with a fine collection of jewellery, camel bags and wedding jewellery. A second building opened in 2017 to display a wider selection of treasures, with a restaurant planned. When we visited there was talk of closing the museum on Monday, so check the website if you plan to be in Nukus for only one day. Tuesday and Friday are free for school groups and so can be very busy. For more on the Savitsky Museum visit http://museum.kr.uz.
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Kalon Minaret
When it was built by the Karakhanid ruler Arslan Khan in 1127, the Kalon Minaret was probably the tallest building in Central Asia – kalon means ‘great’ in Tajik. It’s an incredible piece of work, 47m tall with 10m-deep foundations (including reeds stacked underneath in an early form of earthquake-proofing), and has stood for almost nine centuries. Chinggis (Genghis) Khan was so dumbfounded by it that he ordered it spared while his troops ransacked the rest of the city. The minaret is an architectural masterpiece. Its 14 ornamental bands, all different, include the first use of the glazed blue tiles that were to saturate Central Asia under the Timurids. Up and down the southern and eastern sides are faintly lighter patches, marking the restoration of damage caused by Soviet general Frunze’s artillery in 1920. Its 105 inner stairs, accessible from the Kalon Mosque, have been closed off to tourists for several years but may reopen.
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Kumtepa Bazaar
The fantastic Kumtepa Bazaar, 5km west of Margilon centre, is a time capsule full of weathered Uzbek men in traditional clothing exchanging solemn greetings and gossiping over endless pots of tea. Rows of handmade khanatlas and adras silk, available from just 5000S per metre, are both the shopping and the visual highlight. It’s probably the most interesting bazaar in the country. The busiest day is Sunday, but it also works on Thursday. Margilon’s traditional streak is in full view here, with Uzbek matrons dressed almost exclusively in the locally produced khanatlas dresses and head scarves and men in skullcaps and chapan (heavy quilted jacket). Take a shared taxi (2000S per person) or 'Bozor' marshrutka (1000S) from Margilon to get here. A taxi from Fergana costs around 6000S.
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History Museum of the People of Uzbekistan
The History Museum is a must-visit for anyone looking for a primer on the history of Turkestan from its earliest settlements 5000 years ago to the present. The 2nd floor has some fine Zoroastrian and Buddhist artefacts, including several 1st- to 3rd-century Buddhas and Buddha fragments from Fayoz-Tepe area near Termiz. On the 3rd floor English placards walk you through the Russian conquests of the khanates and emirates, and there are some foreboding newspaper clippings of revolts in Andijon being brutally suppressed by the Russians in 1915. On the 4th floor you’ll also find the normal ode to post-independence gas plants and first President Karimov.
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Char Minar
Photogenic little Char Minar, in a maze of alleys between Pushkin and Hoja Nurabad, bears more relation to Indian styles than to anything Bukharan. This was the gatehouse of a long-gone medressa built in 1807. The name means ‘Four Minarets’ in Tajik, although they aren’t strictly speaking minarets but rather decorative towers. For 4000S it's possible to climb up onto the roof of the building and come face to face with the charming minarets. Souvenir stalls in front of the building sell some interesting Soviet memorabilia and B&W photographs of pre-Soviet Bukhara.
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