| Page Views: 5,522 Last Visit to Samarkand: July, 2006 | Samarkand - Central Asia's Eternal Beauty by Trekki - last update: Jan 25, 2007 |
Sаmаrqаnd - | Bibi Khanum Mosque - marvellous morning light |
Samarkand was the fourth Uzbek city I visited, after Tashkent , Khiva and Bukhara , on my way to Tajikistan and Pamirs .
Please make sure that you also read what Leyle of the WanderingCamels wrote about Samarkand .
She was the one who “brought” me to Uzbekistan and Samarkand with what she wrote here on VT.
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| Shah-i-Zinda - marvellous blue tile work |
|  | Pearl of the Orient Once, Alexander the Great wrote about Samarkand, or Marakanda, that it was more beautiful than he ever imaginated. Given the time, it must have been a glory of the days before Christ already. Since that time, it had quite a maiifold regimen by Chinese Han-Dynasty, Sassanids, Turks and Arabs. It was capital of Transoxania and then reigned by Samanids, Seljuqs and the Khans of Choresm (see Khiva ). Mongols under Genghis Khan destroyed the city around 1200, making it uninhabitable for quite a period.
And then famous Timur came and made Samarkand capital of his empire. It was a famous cultural, scientific and trade centre; marvellous buildings have been erected with the idea to show power and make Samarkand the most beautiful city of Timur’s days.
Timurid period ended around 1500 and under the Shaybanids, who did choose Bukhara as their capital, went into meaninglessness.
1868, Russians took over; it became the centre of Russian Turkestan, later capital of Uzbek SSR, but Tashkent was selected final capital, which it still is in the state of Uzbekistan since 1991. |
| University of Biology - modern Samarkand :-) |
| | Always an important trade centre Since a long time, Samarkand had been an important centre for international trading. Goods were transported from China to the western world and other goods from the western world to Asia.
Already in 751, Samarkand had its own paper manufacturing, adopted by the Chinese. This might have been the reason why it did develop to such an important cultural and scientific centre with early bookwritings.
Today it is a very lively town with 450.000 inhabitans, interesting mixture between ancient sights, which look more randomly scattered around town and modern Uzbek life.
It definitely pays to spend more than just one day here, to immerse in the fame of ancient Silk Road, to take in the special position of Samarkand as centre of Timurid period with its special architecture.
Now lets begin and start our virtual tour to Samarkand – enjoy.
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All pictures have been taken by myself, if not marked otherwise.
Please do not use any of them without my permission.
The same applies for my writings here.
Thanks.
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| Pros: | "Marvellous architecture - lovely people - busy lively town" | | Cons: | "bloody hot in summer" | | In A Nutshell: | "Marvellous - but it might reveal its splendor not directly" |
Trekki's Samarkand Travel Tips
 Trekki's Samarkand Travelogues | | | |
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 Comments for Trekki about Samarkand | | | | |
lynnehamman Wed Jul 29, 2009 15:40 UTC
Samarkand is a dream destination for me- I have always been interested in history of Timur & his empire. A great page of history with astute observations and excellent pics. I will return to finish reading these tips.Thanks. | hindu1936 Wed May 20, 2009 16:12 UTC
and if you did drink too much and fall into a drain channel, how much does it cost for a mule to drag you out. | jumpingnorman Thu Feb 19, 2009 19:22 UTC
Samarkand is fascinating --- all the way to your stories about Aleander liking it....I am envious you go to such wonderful locations! You're lucky, Ingrid! Norman :) | iwys Fri Dec 26, 2008 17:55 UTC
Thank you for a fascinating and beautiful page. |
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