Sights of Samarkand: description, photos and reviews

Samarkand, which is the second largest city in Uzbekistan, is the richest treasury of eastern culture. Despite the fact that the appearance of modern Samarkand in many ways resembles a developed European center, it immortalizes unique historical and architectural sights awarded with the right to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The variety of interesting places, the unusually colorful atmosphere reigning in the area of the Old City, as well as the riot of colors of the local landscape and exteriors, attracts to this Eden of the East a lot of tourists and travelers who dream of seeing the famous sights of Samarkand. A full description of tourist destinations includes more than 20 cultural monuments, architectural ensembles and objects of significant historical value.

Mausoleum of Gur-Emir

The literal translation of the name of the mausoleum Gur-Emir sounds like "the tomb of the king." According to its purpose, Gur-Emir is a magnificent burial vault for all men from the Timurid dynasty. The erection of the mausoleum continued for a long time.

Scientists refer this building to the period of XIV-XV centuries. It is known for sure that the complex was originally created for Sultan Muhammad, the grandson of the famous Tamerlane. Most travelers who visited the mausoleum and left a comment about the sights of Samarkand Gur-Emir, first of all note the unprecedented beauty of the Blue Dome of the tomb and its exquisite interior decoration. This fact is really true, as the interior of the tomb of El-Emir has no analogues in the whole world.

Observatory of Ulugbek

Among all the objects that make up the sights of Samarkand, the Ulugbek Observatory is considered one of the most interesting and popular among tourists. It was built in the 11th century on the Chupan-Ata hill for Ulugbek, the grandson of Tamerlane. For hours watching the heavenly bodies, he compiled an incredibly accurate for his time catalog, numbering 1118 stars.

Archaeologists were able to discover the underground part of the sextant and the foundation of the three-storey observatory. Tourists who visited these sites are delighted with the greatness of the structure.

Afrasiab hillfort

This is another cult place, which is famous for Samarkand. The description of the sights would not be complete without mentioning the legend that exists in these parts, according to which the hero of the folk epic, King Afrasiab, erected on the banks of the Siab River the beautiful capital of Sogdiana.

The settlement is located away from modern Samarkand. To get to Afrasiab, you need to take a course to the north-east of the city to the spurs of Chupon-ata.

Since the middle of the XX century and up to the present time there are constant archaeological and scientific works. However, despite excavations, these objects can be viewed by tourists as part of the excursion program covering this and other sights of Samarkand. People who have already visited these places say that they have left an unforgettable impression.

The shrine of the three religions - the burial place of Saint Daniel

This is a unique place, uniting the followers of the three largest world religions - Christianity, Islam and Judaism. There is a unique burial in the northern part of Afrasiab hillfort. Served at the court of King Nebuchadnezzar, the descendant of King Solomon Daniel was born in Jerusalem in the 6th century BC. He possessed the gift of clairvoyance and was a very revered man in his own country.

Today, a burial site on the banks of the Siab River, where Saint Daniel (Hoxha Daniyar - for adherents of Islam or Daniel the prophet - for the supporters of Judaism) is buried, is a place of worship of Muslims, Christians and Jews of the whole world.

Mausoleum of Ruhabad

Mausoleum Rukhabad, like all the sights of Samarkand, is distinguished by original decoration and originality. It is one of the earliest structures of Samarkand, erected in the late 14th century. In those days, the mausoleum of Rukhabad was connected to the tomb of Amir Temur with a dense shady alley and a road of marble slabs laid between them.

Khazrat Hizr

The Khazrat Khizr Mosque built in 1823 is located on a small hill in front of the mausoleum of Kusam ibn Abbas, with which the mosque was connected in ancient times by a road and constituted a single spiritual complex.

Architecturally the mosque is of great value due to the fact that it is a classical embodiment of the ayvan style, which is very typical for the East of the XIX century.

Place of worship Maturidi

Maturidi, to be exact Abu Mansour al-Maturidi, was one of the founders of the theoretical ideas of the Islamic religion, who created the doctrine of the philosophy of Islam "Maturidia".

The place of worship of this iconic Muslim personality is in the old part of the city of Samarkand and is available for visiting pilgrims and tourists.

The Imam al-Bukhari Memorial

This memorial complex perfectly exemplifies the sights that represent Samarkand, reviews about which are always full of enthusiastic and capacious epithets.

The Imam al-Bukhari Memorial is located twelve kilometers from the city in the town of Horteng and is a very revered Muslim shrine. Here lies the ashes of Imam Muhammad ibn Ismail Abu Abdallah al-Bukhari, a well-known theologian, scholar and author of the collection Al-Jomi al Sahih, which is the second most important book for Muslims after the Koran.

Siab Bazaar

This is the most ancient and large-scale eastern bazaar of Samarkand, located near the Bibi-Khanym mosque on a spacious city square. It has been here since time immemorial. Tourists who visited there, argue that the bazaar and to this day pleases the noisy crowd of the crowd, an abundance of local vegetables, fruits and sweets.

Travelers are very fond of visiting the Siab bazaar, as the sights of Samarkand include not only architectural and religious objects, but also such an outstanding and perfectly characterizing way of life and customs of local residents as the eastern market.

Street Masters

Starting from Registan Square, Tashkent Street is the oldest street in Samarkand. From the earliest times it was the center of the city, an important caravan road and a street of masters. It was used to transport trade goods that delivered goods from the Ferghana Valley, the Tashkent Oasis and even China, which made it the main center of trade in the city.

Until now, the Chorsu passage, erected in the XVIII century, is located near the walls of Sher-Dor Madrasah at the very beginning of the street of masters.

University Boulevard

The University Boulevard stretches for almost a kilometer in the center of Samarkand. It is buried in verdure and is one of the most popular places for walking with locals and tourists. Especially it is loved by students of the Samarkand State University, located in one of the old buildings of this famous street.

Cultural and tourist attractions are also worth seeing such sights of Samarkand as the Till-Kori Madrassah, Bibi Khanum Mosque, Ali Nasafi Mausoleum, Sherdor Madrassah, Shakhi Zinda necropolis, Kuchkunji Khan Mosque and many others. Reviews about them enthusiastic. People who have seen all this with their own eyes, advise everyone to personally personally admire this magnificence.