Bukhara, our second stop along the Silk Road, can be reached by car from Khiva, taking a whole day. Along the way, what struck us most was the landscape, which changes based on the proximity or otherwise of water sources.

Once we left Khiva we entered an area full of cultivated fields, fed by the Amu Darya river, which in Persian means the "sea river", so large that in some places its riverbed becomes more than a kilometer wide. The great river also demarcates the border between the Uzbek and Turkmen states, and the road to Bukhara runs alongside it for the first part of the journey.

Then, as soon as we moved away from the river, the landscape transformed into an endless desert. Here once upon a time there were nomadic raiders, who attacked caravans to steal goods and resell kidnapped travelers and merchants as slaves. We crossed the desert for a few hours, then, before entering the Bukhara region, the landscape changed again, and we saw the endless expanses of cotton and fruit cultivated fields that characterize the alluvial plains.

Our accommodation in Bukhara was the most welcoming of the entire holiday. We stayed for three nights in a boutique hotel, converted from a wealthy home in the Jewish quarter of the city, a very quiet area. Its central location allowed us to easily visit the historic center of the city on foot, and to be just a few steps away from a large car park useful for the driver.

1) Vademecum

• To visit and see the main monuments of Bukhara you need at least two days, and we strongly suggest the help of a local guide, also because some monuments are difficult to locate.
• The main buildings, minarets, mosques and madrasas are in the historic city centre, which can be visited on foot, but to see other monuments, such as the Emir's summer residence, the Bakhauddin Naqshband complex and the Chor-Bakr necropolis, you have to travel by car.
• The sun can be hot in the central part of the day, so it is preferable to concentrate visits in the morning.
• In the pedestrian street there are many shops, bars and restaurants where you can eat and indulge in some shopping.

2) The history

Bukhara was truly a wonderful surprise. The city is so rich in well-preserved historical monuments that it makes it another fascinating stop along the Silk Road.

It is the mystical Uzbek city par excellence, a place where you will find many faithful on pilgrimage.

Bukhara was already known in the chronicles in the 6th century BC, due to the Achaemenid conquest (Persian Empire) and the subsequent annexation to the vast Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great.

An important commercial crossroads due to its central position between Persia and Afghanistan, the city remained of the Zoroastrian faith even during the first part of the Arab conquest, paying tribute, but was completely Islamized in the 8th century AD.

The zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism, with its over 3 millennia of history, is one of the oldest religions in the world. This religion was born thanks to the teachings of Zarathustra, who lived in north-eastern Iran around 1500 BC.

His teachings include belief in the existence of a supreme god, called Ahura Mazda; the focal point of religion is the eternal struggle between good and evil. The Avesta, or the sacred text of this religion, spread so much that Zoroastrianism became the official religion of the vast Persian empire.

The religion began to lose followers during the subsequent Macedonian conquest, and finally after the Arab conquest.

To date, a few tens of thousands of faithful remain, concentrated in India under the name of Parsis.

Many scholars believe that Zoroastrian concepts such as the final judgement, the struggle between good and evil, heaven and hell, influenced the great monotheistic religions. for those wishing to learn more we recommend this link.

In the 9th century, Bukhara became the capital of the Samanid empire, which brought it to its peak, making it one of the most important Arab cultural centers in the world. Suffice it to say that Ibn Sina, or Avicenna, author of the Canon of Medicine, lived and developed his science in Bukhara.

He was one of the best-known figures in the Islamic world; in Europe Avicenna became an important figure starting from the year 1000; he was recognized as the author of very important works in the field of medicine which remained unchallenged for more than six centuries. He is considered by many to be "the father of modern medicine". Wikipedia

During this Islamic renaissance, canals and tanks, called hauz, were built in the city, which were used for water supply.

In this way the city developed even more and reached a considerable population for the time, but this also contributed to the spread of diseases; for this reason, during the Soviet period, the canal system was almost completely buried.

The city was destroyed in 1220 by the Mongol horde led by Genghis Khan, who however spared the Kalyan minaret.

After a period spent recovering from the ferocity of the Mongol conqueror, Bukhara once again achieved splendor in the 16th century, once again becoming the capital of a kingdom, the Khanate of Bukhara, which fostered its artistic and cultural revival.

The city eventually suffered the same decline that the other cities along the Silk Road suffered due to the abandonment of the trade route, and in the 19th century it was conquered by the army of the Tsar of Russia, intent on extending his sphere of influence in the neighboring countries.

The emirs managed to maintain their formal position until the birth of the Soviet Union, when the city was definitively annexed to the territory.

3) The historic centre

Below we report the main monuments we saw in the historic center. The guided tour took us more than half a day, finishing just after two in the afternoon.

Ismail Samami mausoleum

The historic city centre, called Shakristan (the old city), can be visited on foot; we recommend starting from the mausoleum of Ismail Samami, located in a park a few hundred meters west of the fortress of the emirs of Bukhara.

The mausoleum, built by the Samanids, is a cubic brick building with a hemispherical dome. It has no glazed ceramics, but the crisscrossing arrangement of the bricks that make it up make it fascinating.

Built around 900 AD, it is one of the city's oldest monuments, and was only rediscovered by the Soviets in 1900.

Our guide Oybek told us that this monument survived the destruction of Genghis Khan thanks to the inhabitants of the city who, shortly before the arrival of the Mongol army, hid it by completely covering it with sand until it was transformed into a small hill.

Next to the mausoleum there is a water collection tank, once part of the city's water supply system. To the northwest of the mausoleum are the city's grand bazaar, a small stretch of defensive wall, and the Chashma Ayub mausoleum square.

Chashma Ayub mausoleum

Chashma Ayub Mausoleum The Chashma Ayub mausoleum (the "source of Job") was built in the 12th century and subsequently modified by Tamerlane, who had the roof remodeled, making it conical in shape, unusual for the time. Legend has it that the mausoleum houses the miraculous source of water found by the prophet Job, who arrived in the city during a drought.

Ark of Bukhara

The Bukhara fortress was the emir's palace, the epicenter of subsequent city development. It is thought that it was built as early as the 5th century AD, and during its history it has undergone numerous reconstructions and destructions, most recently the devastating one carried out by the Red Army during the conquest of the kingdom (in fact today only a small part of it remains open to visitors).

To access the fortress, you have to cross the large square in front, called Registan, where events and holidays are still celebrated today.

Once inside the mighty walls it is possible to visit the old lodgings of the emirs, transformed into a museum where there are objects and clothing of the time.

Near the fortress there is a large water tank built by the Soviets, very eye-catching but out of context, and the Bolo-Hauz mosque, once used as a place of worship by the emirs, very photogenic especially in the evening, where the adjacent tank can reserve some photographic satisfaction.

Kaylan minaret and mosque

From the fortress, proceeding east, you cannot help but come across the symbol of the city of Bukhara, the Kaylan minaret, which thanks to its 48 meters height was a point of reference for generations of caravaners who had to reach the city.

It was built in 1127 at the behest of the emir Arslan Khan, using perhaps the first blue glazed tiles in the entire region. The minaret was spared by Genghis Khan himself, who was so impressed that he ordered his army to stop.

Oybek told us that according to a legend, the great conqueror, right in front of the minaret, bowed to collect his hat that had blown off due to the wind. He, realizing that he had bowed for the first time in front of something, was so impressed by it that he ordered the army to leave it intact.

The minaret, in addition to attracting the faithful, was used until the 19th century to inflict capital punishment: those condemned to death were closed in a sack and thrown to the ground.

Next to the minaret is the gigantic Kaylan mosque, rebuilt in 1514 on the ruins of the one destroyed by Genghis Khan. The mosque's ornate Iwan is the gateway to its internal courtyard, which can accommodate 10,000 worshipers.

Mir-i-Arab madrasa

Opposite the mosque stands the enchanting Mir-i-Arab madrasa, which has hosted (and still hosts) generations of students of the Koran. The madrasa captures attention thanks to the rich decorations present in the Iwan, and the two domes covered with blue glazed ceramics.

Ulug Bek madrasa

Behind the Toqi Zargaron bazaar you will find the oldest madrasa in all of Central Asia. It was built by the famous astronomer king Ulug Bek (1394-1449), and is decorated with the geometric motifs that fascinated him most during his life: the beautiful glazed ceramics form complex models having as constituent elements polygon and star-shaped tiles, as if they somehow imitated a fractal, an object that repeats its shape in the same way on different scales.

This ornamental repetition is called Girih. Today in its internal courtyard there are craft shops.

Abdoullaziz Khan madrasa

Opposite the Ulug Bek madrasa, the madrasa of Abdoullaziz Khan is shown in all its splendor, built by the ruler of the same name in 1652. The madrasa is interesting because it is decorated with frescoes and muqarnas, a decoration very present in Arab architecture, where the connections between walls and vaults are geometrically divided into polygonal niches.

Tim Abdullah Khan and the other Bazaars

Trade was the lifeblood of the city of Bukhara, and for this reason in its heyday there were dozens of bazaars, caravanserais and six Tims, or bazaars with a single entrance, all having the characteristic roofing of domed vaults.

Today, to the west of the Mir-i-Arab Madrasa are the Toqi Zargaron (the jewelers' bazaar), and the Abdullah Khan, the only Tim still standing in the city.

Walking along Khakikat Avenue, which cuts longitudinally through the city centre, you will come across other bazaars, where traders still display their wares today.

Lyabi-Hauz square

At the end of Khakikat Avenue, to get to Lyabi-Hauz Square, you need to cross Mekhtar Street and finally continue east, along the pedestrian street that runs alongside a canal. Our final stop on this first day, the Khanagha Nadir Divenbagi complex overlooks this square. Here we visited the Nadir Divenbagi madrasa, very particular because on the facade there is a beautiful mosaic depicting two mythical birds (called simurgi), two lambs and a sun with a human face.

According to Persian mythology, Simurg was the bird that lived on the seed tree, the Tūbā Tree, from which the seeds of all wild plants were generated, placed next to the tree of immortality. Wikipedia

In the center of the square is the largest hauz (tank) in the city, from which the inhabitants once drew water. This is one of the ideal places to stop and rest in the shade of the centuries-old mulberry trees, perhaps in front of a traditional dish.

4) Outside the historical center of Bukhara

Before getting into the car and visiting the monuments outside the historic center, we took some photos of the statue of Hoja Nasruddin riding a donkey.

The most famous mullah of Sufi Islam (a discipline of spiritual improvement which is part of the Islamic universe) is the main protagonist of countless stories and anecdotes throughout the region, which tell the paradoxical wisdom typical of Eastern Zen stories. To read some of them we found this link (in italian).

Sitorai Mohi Hosa, summer residence of the last emir

The residence of the last emir was presumably built by the Russians to distance the emir from the city fortress of Ark, to better control his political moves.

The emir had at his disposal, in addition to the residence furnished according to the taste of the time and the gardens in which peacocks roam freely, a harem with swimming pool. It seems that the emir, as in the famous judgment of Paris, threw an apple every evening to the chosen one of the night.

The building was the first in the entire khanate to have electricity, in a period suspended between tradition and modernization.

Chor-Bakr necropolis

The necropolis was built in the 16th century AD. on land where some of the Prophet's descendants are believed to be buried. The place, important for the Sufi movement, is very quiet and peaceful.

Bakhauddin Naqshband complex

The mausoleum is the burial place of Bakhauddin Naqshband, patron saint of Bukhara and a saint of considerable importance for Sufism. The complex, restored in 1993, has one of the most fascinating porticoes in the country. Here you will find many faithful gathered in prayer who will draw water from a well created by the saint himself, upon returning from Mecca. According to local legend, the miraculous water is the same holy water as in Mecca.

Chor Minor madrasa

The small madrasa is an iconic building, which was part of a much larger complex. It was built in the 19th century on commission from a rich merchant, and its peculiarity are 4 towers (which are somewhat reminiscent of minarets) whose domes are covered with blue glazed tiles. Chor Minor represents the only historical monument of a century of decline for the khanate.