Samarkand

Samarkand lies in a large oasis in north-eastern Uzbekistan, and has been the center of great trade routes (like the Silk Roads). It turned into a crossroads of ancient cultures, and played a significant role in the development of Islamic architecture over the entire region

The WHS contains a series of monuments, from the Afrosiab archeological period, the medieval town (including the Registan) built by Timur to the 19th century City Garden ensemble.

Year	Decision	Comments
2008	Reinforced Monitoring	Threatened by new roads and buildings
2001	Inscribed	Reasons for inscription
1991	Referred	Bureau - Awaiting USSR to propose a new site based only on Muslim monuments

Reviews

Paul Tanner (UK):

Samarkand is the largest of the WHS cities of Uzbekistan (c half million population). Possibly as a result it lacks much of the “eastern atmosphere” which can be sensed in Bukhara or Khiva – instead its glories consist primarily of 4 architectural wonders, any one of which on its own would justify a WHS inscription
a. The Registan ensemble
b. The Bibi-Khanym Mosque
c. The Shahr-i-Zindah tombs
d. The Guri Amir Mausoleum

Even if you are not a great lover of Islamic architecture these are all well worth seeing/experiencing. If you go with a guide beware of the “shared ticket price” scam! In theory you are allowed to return to any of these buildings several times during the day of the ticket – but you need to show the ticket! However you may find that the guide and ladies on the gate do not issue a ticket (many tourists will not ask or care) and share the money the guide has available. We weren’t able to persuade the ladies to issue a ticket but we did make sure that they would let us in again later that day!

There are other buildings worth seeing too – I particularly liked the Ulughbek Observatory with its 30mtr astrolabe partially set deep into the ground – an impressive example of the intellectual and scientific credentials of this part of the world before the European Renaissance. This is in fact on Uzbekistan’s Tentative List

Samarkand is undoubtedly one of the great “destinations” of the world.

Date posted: June 2005

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