Ancient cities of uzbekistan

ANCIENT CITIES OF UZBEKISTAN

Speaking about the most famous ancient cities of Central Asia, the first that come to mind are Samarkand, Tashkent and Bukhara. But do not forget about such ancient cities as Khiva, Termez and Shakhrisabz, especially since the latter is the homeland of the great commander and national hero of Uzbekistan - Amir Temur.

All these cities truly represent the entire history and color of Central Asia. So do not miss the opportunity to visit them.

Samarkand – the legendary capital of the ancient empire

Take, for example, Samarkand - one of the oldest cities in the world! A real key point on the Great Silk Road, full of architectural masterpieces: Registan ensemble, Ulugbek observatory on the Kukhak hill, complex with the intriguing name "The Living King" (Shakhi zinda), family burial vault of the Temurids (Gur Emir), epic mosque "Bibi Khanym", built by Temur for his wife and many other unique buildings.

Ancient Shahrisabz – birthplace of Amir Temur

Samarkand conditionally gained the status of the second homeland of Temur, while the first is considered to be the ancient Shakhrisabz. After all, it was in Shakhrisabz that the great emir was born and spent his youth, engaged in hunting and military art. It was here that the grandiose residence of Temur was built - the palace of Aksaray. Huge in size, its construction began in the distant year 1380 and it is still partially preserved to this day. Isn’t it great that in the modern world we still have opportunity to see the "remains of antiquity" with our own eyes, and not in books or through other media.

In the east they highly respect and remember their heroes, and therefore the very center of Shakhrisabz is decorated with a monument to Amir Temur.

Tashkent – a combination of antiquity and modernity

Do you know what other city can boast of the same monument? Of course, Tashkent – the capital of modern Uzbekistan. On one of the main squares of the city - the Amir Temur square, proudly towers another sculpture of the commander, this time - on a battle horse. The square is always crowded with tourists and local residents. Excursions around the capital almost always include this square and monument in their routes.

Arriving in Tashkent, it may seem that this modern city is filled with high-rise buildings and business centers, but there are still plenty of ancient places that are so interesting for tourists. The mausoleum of Kaffal al-Shashi, Madrasah of Barak Khan, ensemble "Khazret-Imam", complex "Shaykhantaur" and "Zangiata" – these are just some of the of ancient sights of Tashkent.

Bukhara - a casket of antiquities

We move on. Making up the top of the most famous ancient cities of Central Asia, it is impossible not to include Bukhara, Khiva and Termez into it. Bukhara is considered one of the most visited cities in Uzbekistan and this is understandable – this city has an unprecedented number of ancient sights. Just imagine, when you arrive in Bukhara you can visit several dozens of unique buildings: traditional mosques and madrassas, the famous Ark fortress, Poi-Kolyan and Lyabi-Hauz ensemble, sixteenth-century trading domes and Bukhara baths, the Emir's summer residence and the Naqshbandi Sufi memorial complex. And this is only a small part of the sights of the fabulous Bukhara.

Khiva - "city-museum", striking with its beauty

The city of Khiva, the pearl of the Khorezm oasis, is also rich in architectural monuments. The whole world knows Khiva for its unique "city inside a city" - Ichan-Kala, minaret of Kalta-Minar, fortress of Kunya-Ark, the magnificent mosques and madrassas, and the unusual fortress "Kyrk kyz" ("fortress of forty girls"), covered in legends. What can we say, even the foundation of the city itself is associated with a well dug by the decree of the son of Noah. True or not, the well does exist today.

Termez – the Buddhist center of Uzbekistan

Well, the last but not least on our list is Termez - the southernmost city in Uzbekistan. Previously, it was called Demetris and Ta-li-mi. Bactrian, Islamic and predominantly Buddhist religions are popular among the population of this region. Such a merger could not but affect the style of architectural masterpieces of antiquity here. Among them: Buddhist complex "Fayaz tepe", family burial vault Sultan-Saodat, Djarkurgan minaret, Alexander Nevsky temple, Aral-Paygambar reserve with the mausoleum of the Prophet Zu-l-kifl (Ezekiel) and other sights.

That’s how we see the top of the most famous ancient cities in Uzbekistan, which must be visited, in order to feel the true oriental spirit and to feel how rich the history of Central Asia is. And although this list can be continued indefinitely, it is these six cities that very vividly represent the culture and life of the ancient world.

Itinerary:  Tashkent – Urgench – Khiva – Bukhara – Samarkand – Tashkent

Highlights: Fascinating tour around Uzbekistan, the land which in different times called Sogdiana by ancient Greeks, or Transoxiana by the Romans and Mawaranahr by the Arabs, the country with bright dazzling sun and hospitable people. Visiting of the ancient cities Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand, with sightseeing of ancient and Middle Ages architectural monuments, craft workshops of national textile and ceramic, testing of Uzbek cuisine and shopping on oriental bazaars.

Duration: 8 days/7 nights
Accommodation:  twin/double in hotel
Season: year round

Tour program:

Day 1: Tashkent  The capital of Uzbekistan and peoples’ friendship.
Arrival to Tashkent international airport and transfer to the hotel. Accommodation at the hotel and dinner. Overnight at the hotel in Tashkent.

Day 2: Tashkent – Urgench – Khiva  
Guided sightseeing tour around Tashkent. Explore the old part of Tashkent city. Visit Khast-Imam Complex, where the world famous Quran, holy book that belonged to Caliph Uthman, has been preserved. The complex consists of Barak-Khan Madrasah, Tillya Sheykh Mosque, Saint Abu Bakr Kaffal Shashi Mausoleum and the Islamic Institute of Imam al-Bukhari. Visit Chorsu handicraft Bazaar. Continue to the city center, walk around Amir Timur Square, Independence Square and visit Applied Arts Museum.
Transfer to domestic airport, evening flight HY057 to Urgench departing at 19:00 (1093 km, 1 h 40 min). Arrival in Urgench at 21:20, transfer to Khiva (30 km, 35 min). Overnight at the hotel in Khiva.

Duration of sightseeing tour: 4-5 hours

Day 3: Khiva The only city-museum under the open sky in Central Asia.
Guided sightseeing tour in Khiva. Visit a UNESCO World Heritage site Ichan-Qala fortress: Kunya-Ark, Sayeed Alauddin Mausoleum, Arab-Mukhamadkhan Madrasah, Oq-Masjid Mosque, Madrasah of Hodjan Berdi-biya, Shirgazikhan Madrasah, Abdullakhan Madrasah, Juma Mosque, Allakulikhan Madrasah, Tosh-Khovli Palace, Pakhlavan Makhmud Mausoleum, Minaret of Islom-Khoja. Overnight in Khiva.

Duration of sightseeing tour: 4-5 hours

Day 4: Khiva - Bukhara
In the morning depart Khiva and drive to Bukhara through the Kyzylkum desert along the Caravan Road (490 km, 7 h). On the way stop to see Amu-Darya river (Oxus by ancient Greeks). Arrival to Bukhara in the afternoon. Accommodation at the hotel. Free time, walking through the backstreets of Bukhara. Overnight in Bukhara.

Day 5: “Sacred Bukhara” - one of the most esteemed city of Islamic culture.
Guided sightseeing tour in Bukhara. Visit Lyabi Hauz Ensemble, Magoki-Attori Mosque, Chor-Minor Madrasah, trade domes, Kalyan Minaret, Kalyan Mosque and Miri-Arab Madrasah, Ulugbek and Abdulazizkhan madrasahs, Ark Fortress, Bolo-Khauz Mosque, Ismail Samani and Chashma-Ayub mausoleums. Dinner and national show at Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasah. Overnight in Bukhara.

Duration of sightseeing tour: 6-7 hours

Day 6: Samarkand (Marakanda to the ancient Greeks) - One of Central Asia’s oldest settlements. The capital of Tamerlane’s  empire Mawaranahr.
Spectacular Registan Square: Ulugbek, Shir Dor and Tillya-Kari madrasas, Gur-Emir - mausoleum of Tamerlane, remains of Bibi-Khanum mosque, Ulugbek observatory and Siab bazaar. Overnight in Samarkand.

Day 7: Samarkand - Tashkent
 Continue sightseeing tour in Samarkand. Visit Shakhi-Zinda Necropolis, Afrasiab Museum and the Tomb of Saint Daniel. Transfer to Koni Ghil village to explore traditional way of making Samarkand paper from mulberry. Farewell lunch in Samarkand. At 16:30 transfer to the railway station to take the high-speed train departing at 17:30 (300 km, 2 h) and arriving in Tashkent at 19:40 pm. Transfer to the restaurant and dinner. Transfer to the airport.

In the last two weeks we have crossed the border into Uzbekistan, watched the silk carpet making process, camped out with camels in the desert, visited imposing silk road cities, tasted Uzbek wine (hmm), learned to cook Plov (yum) and pondered over spending a small fortune on a handmade silk carpet (eek).  This trip couldn't be more of a contrast from our previous leg in Kyrgyztsan and everyone is in agreement that the two have complimented each other really well and that we are very pleased the energetic hiking & camping section was first and the lazy, hazy, sunny  swimming pool days through Uzbekistan came later on!

It's hard to get excited about the scenery of Uzbekistan, from crossing the border, the wonderful green forests and mountains of Kyrgyzstan come to an abrupt halt, making way for the open desert, lots of industry at first and then a whole load of open land.  However, what you do get here, the incredible ancient cities of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, with their elaborate blue and turquoise tiled mosques, madrassas and mausoleums have to be seen to be believed.  Stopping en route to check out the old Caravanserais built to provide refuge for traders, the idea of the Silk road feels much more tangible again - similar to our time traversing China's Wild West.  Here we are, in the footsteps of Marco Polo, visiting the (very ruined) fort of Alexander the Great in Nurata and Tamerlane's Mausoleum in Samarkand. This is the place where epic  battles were fought, where the Mongols stormed  cities and Ghenghis Khan terrorised and conquered Central Asia.

Our Guide Jalol absolutely lives up to his reputation as a great guide, he is extremely knowledgeable and more importantly communicates his country's history brilliantly. I think my brain is a little overloaded with all the information, so it's important to combine learning and sightseeing with a healthy dose of carpet shopping and afternoon beer drinking.

In Bukhara, on a sunny afternoon and after a lunch of Shashlik (for the meat eaters) and Greek Salad (for me), we walked around the huge fort known as the Ark, close to the Zindon Prison and the 'Bug Pit' prison cell.

It's a really impressive and imposing sight, made more interesting with a bit of reading about the history of the place.  This is the spot where, in the early 19th Century two British officers, Connelly and Stoddart were thrown into the 'Bug Pit' in Bukhara's dungeon for upsetting the Khan, left to rot for years before being unceremoniously beheaded - yikes!  Fortunately times have changed and the Uzbeks now provide a very warm welcome.  We've had a lovely evening enjoying a masterclass in creating Plov, a popular staple in this part of the world, made of rice, carrots, raisons and meat. Sitting around in a lovely courtyard in the home of an Uzbek family we fill up on tasty snacks, salads and of course, the Plov which went down very well!  I should say that Central Asia is not really a haven of vegetarian cuisine, in fact as you can well imagine, it's a very foreign concept, so I would advise any fellow veggies out there to come prepared to eat a lot of salad and bread, which actually is delicious!

In Bukhara, an interesting (rather than delicious) night out is wine tasting in an old caravanseria. Our hostess gives a description of 8 very different red, white and dessert wines (all translated by Jalol), all made in Uzbekistan.  She is quick to point out that the Uzbek wine industry is very young (only 20 years) and is developing and improving all the time (which is good news).  She is enthusiastic and loves her wine - though there are a few questionable claims about the medicinal properties of the wine - for example giving kids and the elderly a bit of wine and water on a morning for good health and curing radiation poisoning...interesting, but the good news is drinking wine adds years onto your life - so let's go with that!  Bukhara and Khiva are both really accessible, and you're able to wander and explore the towns easily, allowing you to get the best photos at dawn and dusk.

Another favourite stop on this journey for me was camping out in Yurts in the Kyzylkum desert.  During the day we made a stop at the very ruined fort in Nurata, then went for a welcome swim in the Ayder Lake near our Yurt stay and a few of the group had a quick ride on a camel.  Afterwards we sat down around a camp fire, listened to some local music, before getting the guitar out and singing a few (load and slightly out of tune) songs ourselves, again the Uzbek Vodka helped this along.  Great to have a break from the cities and to enjoy the (not so peaceful) desert. Next stop, Turkmenistan, whose reputation for strict border controls and lengthy checks have us slightly concerned about spending all day in customs!