Being the prime source of information

2.Bukhara is the perl of the East


Bukhara is one of the most ancient cities of Uzbekistan. The cultural layer on the territory occupied by city is more than 20 meters. It was exactly the depth where archaeologists have discovered the remnants of residential and public dwellings along with coins, houseware, tools and jewelry dated 4 BS.
Therefore, the age of Bukhara itself is 2500 years. Back in ancient times it was a part of one of the Central Asia regions - Sogd, where troops of Alexander the Great have passed. By that time the city-building culture was well developed. Not far from the city the remnants of antic settlement Varakhsha could be found. It was know with its gorgeous wall painting, representing the scenes of cheetah hunting.
Fortress Ark is considered to be Bukhara's Center, where the rulers and their servants live. Behind its walls the actual city - shakhristan was build. It was surrounded by trade-and-vocational suburbs - rabad. The Great Silk Road crossed Bukhara. More than 60 caravansaries accommodating the merchants from India, China, Iran and other countries had been placed here. With Arabs took over, Islam was brought in to Bukhara in 7 AD.
Since that time mosques and minarets, madrasahs and cultural complexes have been built. Over thousand years the Samanid's mausoleum keeps amazing the people with its beauty, perfect harmony and genius design. The architectural complexes Poi-Kalyan, Lyabi-Haus, Gaukushon and others are the best examples of medieval architects' creations. In Bukhara itself many monuments of dwelling architecture, palaces, bathhouses and trade facilities have been preserved. Special enchantments contain the architectural complexes outside the city - Bahavuddin, Chor-Bakr, Toshmachit and others. In the monuments preserved, the specific features of local unique architectural school are clearly seen, which testify of an outstanding mastership of Bukhara's architects.
Bukhara is the undisputed pearl (or perhaps that should be sapphire, given that its dominant colour is blue) of Uzbekistan. Samarkand and Khiva both have their charms, but they seem but pale mirages when you are standing alone on a late autumnal afternoon staring up at the Kalyon Minar, the most prominent sight on Bukhara's skyline, and with the vast and unbelievably sumptuous 16th-century Kalyon Mosque at your side.
Those who do venture a little further outside the city will not be disappointed, however. The Bakhauddin Naqshbandi Complex outside the modern city's confines is considered amongst the holiest sites in central Asia, and huge numbers of visitors come both on pilgrimage and to admire the mazar. Close by is the Sitorai Makhi Khosa, the summer palace of Alim Khan, which gives a poignant insight into the last days of the Bukharan emirate before the Bolsheviks took control, and also the town of Gijduvan, famous for its handmade and finely painted ceramics.
Until a century ago Bukhara was watered by a network of canals and some 200 stone pools where people gathered and gossiped, drank and washed. As the water wasn’t changed often, Bukhara was famous for plagues; the average 19th-century Bukharan is said to have died by the age of 32.
The Bolsheviks modernised the system and drained the pools. You’ll need at least two days to look around. Try to allow time to lose yourself in the old town; it’s easy to overdose on the 140-odd protected buildings and miss the whole for its many parts.