Samarkand - February 2024 - extraordinary buildings in the freezing cold, lots of amazing tiles and a visit to the local bazaar.
The city of Samarkand (the third largest in Uzbekistan) is on the famous and ancient Silk Road, the route berween Asia/China and Europe.
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| I don't know what this says but it is rather beauriful and an adornment over a door in one of Samarkand's remarkable ancient buildings. |
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| A doorway into another world. You step away from the busy modern world city into courtyards that open into palaces, mauseleums and other ancient buildings all lined with the most beautiful tilework and geometric shapes, |
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| Details of the some of the tiles. |
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The mausoleum of Amir Temur |
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| Registan square |
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| The tiger-like emblem of Samarkand. |
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| Me at the feet of the astronmer king Ulugbek |
Ulugh Beg built a great observatory in Samarkand, in modern Uzbekistan, and compiled a famous catalogue of just under a thousand stars. He was also briefly the ruler of one of the world's great powers - the Timurid Empire - that at its height ruled not only central Asia, but Iran and Afghanistan, as well as parts of Iraq, Pakistan, and India. The Timurid Empire had been founded by the redoubtable Tamerlane in the years around
