Visiting a Central Asian country that was once part of the Soviet Union is a unique opportunity, so when my friends mentioned their trip to Uzbekistan, I made sure to tag along.
Although Tashkent is the capital of the country, we chose to focus on Samarkand, a 2,750-year-old city known for its rich cultural heritage. Despite being the country’s third-largest city, it holds significant historical importance. Samarkand was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BC, destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1220 AD, and eventually rebuilt by Timur centuries later. One of the city’s major attractions is the Gur-e-Amir, the towering tomb of Timur. Samarkand is renowned for its ornate and colorful mosques and mausoleums.
Samarkand is right along the historical Silk Road, a 6400-kilometer trade route in the 2nd Century BC, which facilitated economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the East and the West. Simply put, the Silk Road was the ancient trade route that linked China to the Mediterranean countries.
We couldn’t wait to learn more about this Uzbek city so, after checking into our hotel, we immediately engaged a tour operator to show us the city’s interesting attractions. What immediately caught my attention was how clean and well-designed the city’s roads are. I couldn’t see a single piece of litter along the way, and colorful flowering plants were always on both sides of the road, even those in the downtown area.
The city’s old section has historical buildings and monuments, shops, and old private houses, while the new section holds administrative buildings, cultural centers, and educational institutions. The hotel we’re staying at is in the new section, part of a vast tourism complex that includes the city’s 28000-square-meter Congress Center which is fronting our hotel and the Hilton Samarkand Regency.
The Gur-e-Amir was our tour’s first stop. It is an octahedral mausoleum, crowned by a blue dome, with its exterior walls made up of blue, light blue, and white tiles set up into a geometrical pattern against a terracotta background. Inside the main chamber is the tomb of Timur, easily identified because a solid block of dark green jade is placed over it. This piece of gemstone has great historical value because it was used as part of worship in an emperor’s palace and on the throne of a descendant of Genghis Khan.
The next stop was right at the center of the city, the most important attraction in Samarkand. Registan Square banners the very best of Oriental architecture. Three grand buildings face the center of the square, and each one of them has its unique décor.
Taken from an Uzbek word, “Registan” means a sandy place, because in the olden days, this location was all covered with sand. The square started with no buildings around it and was the venue for gathering residents to announce the new rules of Genghis Khan, for celebrations, and executions.
Many centuries later, two rulers at different times built the three madrassahs, Arabic for schools, that now dominate the area. The one at the center, Ulugh Beg, is named after a popular mathematician and astronomer.
The madrassah on the right is named Sher-Dor, meaning “with lions,” and has on its summit two large mosaics of lions, which were made to represent students, ready to attack two deer, which represent knowledge. A student has to exert effort to gain knowledge. The building on the left is named Tilla-Kori, which means “gilded,” because the walls of this madrassah have an abundance of golden colors, beautifully framed by two strong minarets.
There are many other interesting things about Samarkand, like being the city of Scheherazade, the very popular narrator of A Thousand and One Nights but, due to space constraints, those will have to wait for next week.
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