One place is still missing on our list - Uzbekistan's jewel - the legendary Samarkand. It was my dream for many many years and the inspiration for coming to Uzbekistan at all.
Samarkand is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia and it was one of the major trading posts of the Silk Road. Destroyed by Mongols in the 13th century, it developed a lot when Timur - in 1370 - made the city the capital of his Empire. During the next 35 years, he rebuilt most of the city and populated it with the great artisans and craftsmen from across the empire. Quite incredible that such a ruthless and cruel ruler was however so sensitive to the beauty and art.
Samarkand is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia and it was one of the major trading posts of the Silk Road. Destroyed by Mongols in the 13th century, it developed a lot when Timur - in 1370 - made the city the capital of his Empire. During the next 35 years, he rebuilt most of the city and populated it with the great artisans and craftsmen from across the empire. Quite incredible that such a ruthless and cruel ruler was however so sensitive to the beauty and art.
In 2012 Samarkand was enlisted by UNESCO on its World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures. Crossroads of cultures because it's here that China was meeting with the West a few centuries ago.
We asked the driver to pick us up at 10:00 in the morning, and so once packed, we left Bukhara. The drive to Samarkand took a bit less than 4h and costed 350 thousands soms. Upon arrival, after a quick refreshment in the Orient Star Hotel, we called a taxi, as the nearest attractions were located about 2 km from here and the day was too hot to walk. The very first place we decided to visit in Samarkand was Shah-i-Zinda necropolis - a complex of over 20 medieval mausoleums, also called the "street cemetery". The name Shah-i-Zinda means "Tomb of the Living King" and refers to the most important shrine in this complex, which contains the grave of Quasam ibn-Abbas who was Prophet's Mohammed cousin and who brought Islam to this region.
As in order to get to the necropolis, we had to climb the very steep stairs, we left the pram down, next to the entrance. Once we reached the top, we were totally amazed by the beauty of this place! On both sides of a sort of a narrow avenue there were amazingly blue (because at that time blue was the colour of mourning), stunning mausoleums covered with outstanding, ornamented tilework. Most of them date from 14th and 15th centuries. In fact, Qusam's tomb was the very first one in the place, and then, over centuries several other remains of rich and noble people were buried here (mostly including family members of Timur and Ulugbek).
Shah-i-Zinda was relatively empty, only small groups of local people were visiting this place at that time, therefore we could admire the exquisite mosaica and majolica on the tombs in peace. Uzbek people pilgrim to this place, pray and ask for blessing. There's no word that could describe this place, but I'd say that breathtaking, amazing and magical would be the most accurate.
After a quite a long visit in this not very big place, we went for a walk to see other attractions of Samarkand. We walked trough recently renovated avenues, we reached the stunning Bibi-Khanym Mosque and after another 15 minutes the legendary Registan Square with its three madrassas. Unlike in Bukhara, access to this site wasn't for free, therefore today we decided just to admire it from the far.
We went for a dinner to the best restaurant in town - Platan. We got a private salon, where we could stay with Nina and not bother other customers. Food was great!
The next morning, we decided to come back to Shah-I-Zinda. While walking there, we passed by the Hazrat Khizr Mosque. It's located on the hill, which gives a great view of the Bibi Khanum. The mosque was built in the 7th century, then destroyed by Mongols in the 13th century and it was rebuilt at the end of the 19th century. In 2016 the first president of Uzbekistan - Islam Karimov - was burried here. As many monuments in Samarkand, also the Hazrat Khizr is listed by UNESCO a World Heritage Site.
After a short walk, we reached Shah-I-Zinda. Much more crowded than the previous day, it was more complicated to take photos of the site. Still, we very much enjoyed it again.
We continued the same path as on the previous day and after a 20 minutes walk we reached Bibi Khanum Mosque. At the entrance we were asked by a young girl whether we needed a guide. Why not, since a visit with the guide costed us only 2,20 euros (23 thousands soms). The girl was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. She told us that the mosque was named Bibi Khanum by Timur in honour of his beloved wife.
Bibi was Timur's second wife and also his advisor, and she was actually
supervising the construction of the mosque. The guide also explained us that in fact, what we see now is a replica of the original, 15th century mosque, as it collapsed during the earthquake. The reconstruction started in the late 20th century and is still ongoing - the interior of the mosque was not yet renovated. And in the buildings which were renovated the work was not very well done - plasters and colors were going away...
But back then, in the 15th century it was the biggest mosque in that region. Also now, it's really impressive. And although I saw several amazing mosques (for example in nearby Iran), this one - and especially its size - were really extraordinary. I can only imagine how spectacular it was six centuries ago.
From here it took us another 10 minutes to Samarkand's most famous site - Registan. We bought the tickets (3 euro, while locals pay 10 cents) and we found a guide who for 2,5 euro explained us the story of the Square and the three madrassahs. Registan means "sandy place" and it was a heart of the ancient Samarkand and a public square where people gathered. It is surrounded by three madrassas, which however don't date from the same period.
Each madrassah has it’s own unique design and beautiful mosaic tilework. I couldn't help but wonder, how was it possible to build so massive and
huge buildings, not to say so beautiful - a few centuries ago, without
the heavy equipment.We walked around admiring the brilliant architecture and grandeur of this place. At some point on the main square a music was played quite loudly. It was quite apocalyptic and made this place look even more spectacular.
The last place on that agenda was Gur-E Amir Mausoleum - a resting place for Timur and his two sons. In fact Timur built this mausoleum for his grandson and he was supposed to be buried outside Samarkand - in Shahrisabz. However when Timur suddenly died in 1405, the road to Shahrisabz was covered with snow and it was impossible to pass it. He was therefore buried here. Gur-E Amir was beautiful from the outside and from the inside with its impressive interiors. It was a bizarre feeling to visit the tomb of one of the biggest rulers in the history.
Since we didn't do the research on the restaurants and we didn't have internet connection to find a decent place, we came back to Platan.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped by the Registan, beautifully illuminated at that time. Despite quite a late hour, the square was was full of people admiring this beautiful place.
All in all we saw just a few of numerous Samarkand's attractions. I think all the main ones, but I know we missed a few great places. But with our little girl we couldn't rush too much and could do just the plan minimum. I'm happy anyway I came here at all :)
Samarkand was incredible. Beautiful. Spectacular. Breathtaking. And amazing. A true wonder of the World. But also a bit overwhelming and to me less authentic than Khiva or Bukhara. Its architecture was brilliant and very impressive without any doubt, however it was also so "perfect", a bit too commercial and too touristy.
