Tourist Attractions & Monuments Uzbekistan

Its foundation dates back to the beginning of the first millennium BC. The three sites of Padayatak tepe, Sangir tepe and Uzunkyr are the ancient city of Kish-Nautaka. You can walk through the ruins of the citadel and fortifications. This archaeological site has an important study potential due to its uninterrupted occupation of the iron age in the Hellenistic period.

The largest mosque in Uzbekistan was inaugurated in autumn 2014. Desired by the president, Islam Karimov, it was inaugurated with great pomp and ceremony and can accommodate 2,400 people. Made of white marble and taking up the classical architecture of the country, its mosaics represent the sky. The gold-covered mirhab is based on writings from the Qur'an and the central building is flanked by two high minarets. The ensemble is not yet very patinated and in this sense still lacks a bit of charm, but all around have been created pleasant green spaces along the Ankhor canal.

Babur Park offers a pleasant stopover in the north of the Yakkasaray district. It is divided into several spaces with very distinct atmospheres, each of which we like in its own way.

At the corner of the main streets of Babur and Rustaveli, Pushkin Square is organized around the statue of the Russian poet. The layout has been very successful here, with pleasant paths, benches and fountains under the shade of large plane trees. During the day, you can meet with family and friends, while in the evening, lovers come to coo in the dark. In a corner of the square you can find a small bookshop dedicated to Pushkin's works.

The largest part of the park is occupied by old-fashioned attractions: merry-go-rounds, shooting galleries, Ferris wheel, etc. It's a retro and good-natured atmosphere that we find there. There are a few cafes to refresh your throat or eat on the go.

The Seoul Park was inaugurated in 2014 to celebrate the friendship between the Uzbek and Korean peoples. You can stroll around a traditional pavilion and typical Korean vegetation.

Seattle Peace Park: Babur Park is a reminder of a historic twinning between Tashkent and Seattle in 1973. When the Cold War was at its height and relations between the USSR and the United States were far from ideal, Tashkent and Seattle signed the first twinning decree between the two opposing blocs. The Seattle Peace Park is a reminder of this rapprochement. More prosaically, a barbecue restaurant, the Seattle, adjoins Pushkin Square.

This gallery is dedicated to contemporary Uzbek photography. The exhibition space is spread over two floors, a ground floor and an anti-atomic bunker in the basement. It is also home to a studio and a photography school. An opportunity to meet the country's creative youth and their work on images. It is a dynamic and modern space where creativity is at its best to propose original and inspired works. There are regular concerts, seminars and painting exhibitions which further diversify the cultural action of the place.

The Tashkent House of Photography is located in a 1934 building, imitating the main lines of the oriental style. Since 2005, this exhibition space has been dedicated to contemporary photography, confirmed artists as emerging talents. These are artists working or coming from the sphere of the former USSR. You will discover the Uzbek photography scene and artists from neighbouring countries, but few Anglo-Saxon or European. A unique avant-garde place in the country.

This mountain reservoir is the privileged place for the wealthy classes of the capital, summer and winter. Cottage rental, camping and picnic by the lake, pedal boat rental, amusement park for children, fishing... you come here to have a good time and relax in the middle of nature while maintaining a little bit of bling-bling, it's a kind of French Riviera or Uzbek Chamonix. The best students from the best schools in Tashkent also come here for the green class as a reward for their annual efforts.

Once you are in front of the Aral Desert, which stretches as far as the eye can see, you may be tempted to move forward until you see what is left of this sea. It takes 2 hours of driving in the dunes and sand. Of course, it's impossible to do this without an adapted 4x4, so don't try to venture out in a sedan: you'd be sanded up in no time. Specialized agencies can organize the excursion for you, which we nevertheless recommend: the landscapes are magnificent and you really feel alone in the world. Look out! Don't go alone without a guide if you don't know the road: there is no path and no indication of direction (we are in the middle of the desert). Also, check the weather forecast before starting the trip. If rain is forecast, postpone it: the Aral Desert is a basin below sea level (obviously since it is actually the seabed) and with the heavy rains in the region, some basins can fill up to one meter of water in the space of 5 minutes! It seems unlikely, but it has happened to unconscious tourists who have been stuck on the roof of their Jeep for 24 hours without being able to call for help. In this case, you have to wait for the blazing sun to evaporate all the accumulated rain. When you return, clean all your clothes and insist on shoes: salt and pesticide residues carried by the water and left on the sand are very corrosive.

Standing alone on its hillside, the Langar Ota Mausoleum is the funeral monument of the most famous saint of the region, Mohamed Sadik Sheikh who lived in the 16th century. You have to climb the path that crosses the cemetery to reach the gates of this monument surrounded by a lush garden. In passing, notice the engraved grave of a Langar resident with her cat: she lived 106 years, she was the village healer and herbalist. She is revered by the locals. Less so than Mohamed Sadik, however, who died in 1545 and was a local patron who offered the village its mosque.

The Friday Mosque of Langar dates from the 16th century. A gift from Mohamed Sadik to the village, it is absolutely magnificent. Not only have its architecture and decorations been preserved for almost five centuries, but its central role in local social and cultural life has remained unchanged. Still in operation, it gathers all the inhabitants on Fridays around 1pm for the Imam's preaching. They discuss the Koran and religious teachings, of course, but they also resolve disputes between neighbours, socialize...

A few kilometres after Djarkurgan, on the left side of the road by going to Denau. Alexander's bridge dates from the th century, but it runs along the road followed by the conquest by the Greek conqueror, hence its name. It was built to serve both bridge and water, and also served as a caravanserai. The bridge is now lower than the road, it is hardly discernible when you move to Denau. It is located a few metres before a modern bridge for the railway, which is easier to predict.

The site of Bibi Seshanbe is located next to the village of Sultanabad. People come here on pilgrimage for its sacred water sources, below a small mausoleum. Around it, a pleasant park offers a cool walk. Families and pilgrims come here to spend the day, especially during the hot weather, because the place always remains cool, thanks to the springs. One lingers for selfies around the springs before joining in family a tchaikhana which makes it possible to be restored and to spend a pleasant moment around a takhtan.

Leaving Khodjaobad in the direction of the Kyrgyz mountains, Oman Ota is a place of pilgrimage and resort appreciated by the inhabitants of the region. People come to pray in a small mausoleum whose origin is not clear but which is very popular with women who come there to pray for pregnancy. All around, chaikhanas welcome whole families and groups of friends. Overhanging, the young lovers climb a small mountain up to a cave. There, out of sight, they can contemplate the horizon and make a wish

Here you are at the end of the country: Karasu is a city straddling Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. There is no evidence of a shift from one to the other in architecture or urban planning. At the end of the main street, the border is only 10 meters away. You will find the workshop of one of the master cutlers of the city. With his son, they make the best pitchok in the region: the workshop has been recognized for 4 generations. Here the most traditionalist practices persist: one comes across women, or rather their silhouettes, wearing paranja.

This museum has been funded by UNESCO to promote the crafts and culture of the Boysun region since it was inscribed on the list of intangible heritage. The building is charming and reproduces traditional adobe houses and techniques. Workshops are arranged around a central courtyard and exhibit the weaving and embroidery techniques of the region. In the rooms, you can discover the leather work, ceramics or specific Boysun weavings.

Nur, the Sogdian city would date from the 4th century B.C. It has not yet been excavated and certainly still conceals many treasures to be discovered. In other words, it may be teeming with treasures as yet undiscovered. Its plan is a replica of the outline of the Big Dipper, reputed to be very effective against attacks. Alexandra the Great installed her army here, before launching it against Samarkand and the Zeravchan valley. Behind the fortress, a path of a few kilometres leads to petroglyphs from the Bronze Age.

The construction of the Kagan Palace was launched in 1895 and took just under 10 years. The Emir of Bukhara, inspired by the Petersburg palaces, wanted to be able to receive the Tsar with great pomp on his next trip to Central Asia. The railway line now connects his lands to the lands of the Russian emperor, and he must be able to be accommodated in a stately manner when he gets off the train. This is how the construction work began, led by a Russian architect who was able to recreate the style of St. Petersburg. The result: an enormous white palace, a bit of a cream pie where the tsar will never set foot. First he was delayed by other matters, then the Bolshevik revolution turned everything upside down. The palace remained empty for its first years, welcoming a few visiting dignitaries and banned from staying in the holy city of Bukhara because they were not Muslims. In 1920, the arrival to power of the socialists gave it a completely different orientation from its original purpose: it was transformed into a social centre for railway workers. Events were held there in the magnificent banquet hall. Today, the palace is the property of the municipality, which has set up a small railway museum of little interest. But take the time to walk around the building: the exterior, with its turrets, its architecture mixing Moorish, Oriental and Russian Imperial styles is worth a look and shows how much the Emir had tried to please the Tsar.

The old mosque in iwan and the adjoining madrasah in the Jewish quarter have been converted into a crafts centre under the aegis of Unesco. It is a learning centre specializing in weaving, both rugs and suzani, embroidered on site. A few master craftsmen pass on their knowledge to a dozen apprentices. The colours used to dye 100% silk yarns are natural. It is a very beautiful and peaceful place, around a hundred-year-old mulberry tree.

This is the popular name given to the narrow gorges of the Sanzar River, a passage between Tashkent and Samarkand that winds between the Nourata Mountains and the foothills of the Turkestan Mountains. Literally, it means "where the serpent has gone". It is also known as the "gates of Tamerlan". It sells the best apples of Uzbekistan grown in the region, which are spread out along the roads during the harvest season. Hundreds of crates follow one another along the road, but each driver claims to know the best salesman..

Serious and very competent French-speaking guide in addition to being very friendly, having a nice fleet of vehicles and being able to take care of a couple of travellers or a small group. Based in Samarkand, he does most of his work there as a tour guide for individuals or small groups, but nevertheless operates if necessary throughout the country, including as far as the Ferghana Valley. Cultivated, responsive and friendly, it is an excellent companion for discovering the Timurid capital.

The family house of the most famous Uzbek pottery. Exhibition-sale.

Built in the second half of the 16th century, during the reign of Abdullah Khan II (1557-1598). Under the Soviets, the Koranic school had become an administrative building. The motifs on the façade are inspired by the madrasah of Ulugh Begh in Samarkand. The madrasa, now the largest in Tashkent, is once again welcoming students and it is worth passing under its entrance gate to admire a pretty courtyard bordered by cells on two levels. Right next door is the Grand Friday Mosque.

Built in the early 19th century, this madrasa was one of the most famous Koranic universities in Tashkent. The students studied the Koran, but also the legacy of all the great Uzbek and Muslim scholars: astronomy, mathematics, medicine, Persian and Arabic literature... In recent years, the madrasa has become a tourist attraction and now houses shops and workshops for craftsmen, wood engravers, ceramists, painters of miniatures on boxes. There are also embroidered fabrics and jewellery.

This ancient necropolis has suffered multiple damage before being renovated. The complex comprises three mausoleum dating from the fifteenth century: the mausoleum of Kaldirgach Bey, built at the beginning of the xve and which is the oldest construction of Tashkent, the Younous Khan mausoleum (descendant of Gengis Khan and Babur grandfather) dates from the end of xve, and the mausoleum of Sheik Khavendi Takhoura (says: Sheik Antaour), built in the fifteenth century and rebuilt at the beginning of the nineteenth, according to the original plans. Sheik Antaour and Kaldirgach Bey are ancestors of Khodja Akhrar, one of the great spiritual masters of Central Asia, whose mausoleum is located in Samarkand. They are highly respected as Sufi masters in Central Asia.

The botanical garden is a quiet and refreshing place where picnicking is allowed. With numerous fountains and ponds and mostly sheltered from the sun by the vast shade of the trees, it is ideal for finding some coolness on hot summer days. Dating from the 1920s, it is the oldest and largest botanical garden in Central Asia. The garden covers different geographical areas: Central Asia, Crimea, Caucasus, Europe, Far East. A collection on more than 40 hectares in the heart of the city.

Same type of programs as the previous one. Asia Travel is known as the sports tourism specialist in the region. Given the difficulties in the high mountain areas, its services can greatly facilitate the stay.

Collection of personal effects and stage clothing of the most popular dancers and founder of the "Bahor" troupe.

the "Father's Gates", or western gates, were the main gates of the city. They housed a bazaar and also hosted money changers. Destroyed in 1920, they were restored in 1975 by the Soviets along with the walls on both sides. It is generally by these very photogenic doors, with their adobe brick towers enhancing the turquoise ceramics of the Kalta minor, the "short minaret", located just behind, that the tourists begin their visit of the old city and buy the tickets.

It appears as a village of isolated white houses in the desert at the foot of a mountain. Photogenic image at will creating already a mysterious atmosphere conducive to the visit of the site. A vast cemetery surrounds the mausoleum of Sultan Uvays Bobo, a giant who was said to measure no less than 12 metres! The locals can take you to the nearby Sultan Uvays Mountains to show you his footprints. It is a famous place of pilgrimage that has kept an atmosphere out of time. Feel free to go there during the Navruz period.

On a little more than 6,000 hectares, hares, deer, wolves, wild pigs, desert cats, foxes and a flock of colourful birds rub shoulders. Created in the 1970s, the reserve is all that remains of a forest originally five times its size, which disappeared when the Soviets made room for the cotton fields. It is possible to spend the day there with a guide or to go for a horse ride. To be sure to see active animals, sunrise and sunset are the best times of course.

Perched on a hill, the walls of Chilpik Kala dominate the desert steppe. Before being a citadel, it was mainly a tower of silence: a place where the dead were deposited according to Zoroastrian rites. The corpses decomposed in the open air, and only the bones were then recovered by relatives. It was built between the 2nd and 4th centuries, but was still used in the following centuries. The site can be visited if you go to Noukous, from which it is perfectly visible, on the left side of the road.

Of this fortified city dating from the ^IXth-XIVth centuries there remain imposing sections of wall and part of the apartments of the dekhan. Like immense sculptures, they stand in the immensity of the banks of Amu Darya, dominating the desert on one side and the forest of Bala Tugai on the other. In section, we can appreciate the construction technique of the walls, made of earth and bricks between which were placed layers of straw. A solidity which did not save the citadel from destruction, but which allows its ruins to still stand seven centuries later. If you go there in August, you might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the citadel's sole occupants: eagles nesting between wooden poles protruding from the walls. The primary purpose of these poles was to hang the condemned. This is a truly beautiful desolation, which inspired the sculptor Joldasbek Kumimuratov, the most famous artist of Karakalpakia and Savitsky's companion, who wished to turn it into a city of artists. Dreams are what they are, and the ruins remained abandoned. If you pass someone in the fortress, ask about the black rock outcropping behind the walls in the center of the citadel. According to knowledgeable observers, it grows year by year to a thickness of about five fingers apart. One of the mysteries of the desert... Anyway, Djampik kala is certainly one of the most beautiful of all the citadels and deserves the detour to reach it.

The site, whose foundation dates back to the 3rd century BC, is one of the most easily accessible citadels, since the ruins are located right on the roadside. The walls, which are particularly eroded, look like saw teeth. As at Gouldoursoun, the interior is entirely flat and allows one to see the extent of the territory covered by the fortress. The fortified complex consists of two citadels, the smaller one being located between Kirkiz kala and Ayaz kala, whose photogenic silhouette can be seen from the walls.

The highest building in Central Asia (375 m) was designed to withstand earthquakes up to Richter scale index 9. Erected between 1978 and 1984, it was inaugurated on 15 January 1985, and dominates the whole city of Tashkent, offering a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. One can go there to admire the landscape at bird's eye level or eat Uzbek cuisine in the highest restaurant in the city! In the entrance hall, the mosaics are absolutely magnificent, made of semi-precious stones and marble.

Independence Square is a space reserved for annual celebrations. The construction of the Senate Palace has given it a new aesthetic, overhung by an arch dominated by humos, legendary birds from oriental tales. A few metres away stands the World War II War Memorial, where a flame burns permanently under a statue of a woman, symbolizing mothers who lost their children. The names of the missing are on golden plaques.

In the centre of Tashkent, on Amur Timur Square, a gigantic statue of Tamerlan on horseback replaced that of Karl Marx shortly after independence. Lovers of detail will note that the emperor is depicted with his right arm outstretched, which was impossible for him due to his infirmity. However, legend has it that the reason Tamerlan's armies were so strong was that each soldier, even with his right arm severed in battle, could continue to fight with his left hand as well, just like his leader.

To the west of the square stands the colossal Hotel Uzbekistan, whose architecture evokes an open book, while the concrete "interlacing" on the façade symbolizes the Koranic writing. To the right of the Hotel Uzbekistan, a brand new congress centre was inaugurated in 2011. Its structure with colonnades spaced out by large glass panels is dominated by a dome where two humos, the legendary birds of the Avesta, which have become one of the national symbols, are enthroned.

The Amur Timur square itself, once buried under the shade of hundred-year-old plane trees, has been completely redone, sacrificing these venerable trees in the process. People now stroll among the shrubs, but without much enthusiasm since the locals left the place. The official aim was to clear the view of the brand new congress centre from Karl Mark Avenue opposite, in defiance of the plane trees, so emblematic of Central Asian cities and unfortunately so often the victims of urban renovation.

Starting from Independence Square and following the Ankhor Canal southwards, you will come to Navoi Park, Tashkent's great summer meeting place. Between Independence Square and Navoi Park, the Ankhor Canal was once the boundary between the modern Russian and Uzbek cities. It is bordered by a few sports fields where many inhabitants come to do their gymnastics. Inside the park, a few chaikhanas surround the canal and the large pool where kids come to bathe and take small boat rides.

The palace of Grand Duke Nicolas, the cursed and exiled cousin of the tsar, dates from the 19th century and was transformed for a time into the Pioneers' Palace, then into the Museum of Antiquities and Jewellery. Today it houses the reception rooms of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is the residence of the State's prestigious guests. The magnificent building can be seen very well from the outside. A central space open on three sides is flanked by wings extending to turrets, all in light-coloured brick and enhanced by a beautiful garden.

It brings together copies of 15th and 16th century manuscripts of the poet Alisher Navoi (1441-1501) and other Central Asian poets. There will also be beautiful antique miniatures, murals illustrating the life of the poet and the Timurids, as well as a complete representation of the Ulugh Begh Observatory. The museum deserves to be a little airy and renovated, but it is still interesting for some of the rooms and can be visited in the old-fashioned way, with the attendants checking the ticket in each room and then turning on the lights?

The former Lenin Museum became the Museum of the History of the Peoples of Uzbekistan in 1995. The very Soviet structure hosts more than 2,000^m2 of a fascinating collection that will delight lovers of prehistory, but also of ancient, medieval or contemporary history.

The visit begins with the rooms devoted to the Stone Age, with the results of numerous excavations carried out throughout the country. One can in particular linger on the reconstituted face of a Neanderthal child, discovered in the 1940s in Teshik Tash, in Sourkhan Daria, by the Soviet archaeologist Gerasimov. This is followed by some reconstructions of scenes of life at that time, based on the excavations of the two oldest sites uncovered in Uzbekistan: Djarkutan (^19th century B.C.) and Sapalli Tepe (^17th century B.C.), both located in the province of Sourkhan Daria. Moving forward in time, we then move on to a reconstruction of the Zoroastrian temple of Qoy Qirilgan, particularly interesting for those who have visited its ruins in the Khorezm. It is estimated today that the region could have been the birthplace of this religion. A large space is then devoted to the conquests of Alexander the Great in Central Asia. The Greek emperor built no less than five Alexandria in the region, the last of which was at the extreme limit of his empire, in Khodjent, in present-day Tajikistan.

The results of the excavations at Kok Tepe, one of the largest archaeological sites in Uzbekistan and the second capital of Sogdiana after Samarkand, will also be detailed. In particular, the burial site of a Saka princess was found there, as well as a large quantity of ornaments and gold buttons. You will also see the treasures discovered in Kara Tepe and Fayaz Tepe, the Buddhist sites near Termez. The gold and ceramic Buddhas give an idea of the splendor that reigned in these sacred monasteries in the ^first century.

After the exhibition devoted to the Kushan period, the visitor cannot but be fascinated by the great fresco of Varakhsha, uncovered on the historical site of Samarkand, representing a Sogdian prince mounted on a white elephant, attacked by two leopards during a hunting party. The Afrosyab Museum in Samarkand has a copy of this piece, but it is the original.

Next are the departments devoted to the two golden ages of Uzbekistan: the Samanid period and the Timurid period. There are exhibits dedicated to the great scholars of the time: the poet Alisher Navoi, the mathematician Al-Khorezmi, the philosopher Al-Termezi, the astronomers Ulugh Begh and Al-Ferghani. The architecture is not left out with models presenting reconstructions of buildings like a splendid model of the Bibi Khanum mosque in Samarkand.

The second floor of the museum is devoted to the Russian invasion and Uzbekistan's war efforts to help its big brother Russia in its "great patriotic war", the name given to the Second World War.

The exhibition ends on the contemporary period, with some photos of the attacks perpetrated in Tashkent by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan in 1999-2000, and photographs of the main technical, industrial or political achievements of Uzbekistan since independence. It is the propaganda part, common to all the country's museums, that we pass quickly enough.

The Tashkent Museum of Fine Arts is the largest museum in the city, and certainly the most interesting. Entirely renovated between 2019 and 2021, it exhibits extraordinary collections, including the particularly rich collection of Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovich Romanov who lived in Tashkent at the beginning of the last century. Exiled because of his less than exemplary conduct, the kleptomaniac cousin of the Tsar is said to have "borrowed" some pieces from the collection of his illustrious cousin, including crown jewels. It is one of the five largest art museums in the CIS and will delight all those who wish to learn or sharpen their knowledge of Uzbek, Central Asian and Russian art.

Five floors await you, each with dozens of pieces in chronological order. One goes from the first ancient potteries to contemporary Uzbek art, passing by nomadic craftsmanship or Soviet realism. Entire rooms are also devoted to pieces acquired by the museum, founded in 1918: Asian collections, particularly Japanese, Chinese and Korean, mainly composed of porcelain.

The painting galleries are particularly rich, with paintings from the ^eighteenth, ^nineteenth and ^twentieth centuries from donations made by Moscow at the very beginning of the Soviet period in gratitude for the efforts made by Uzbekistan in the Aral Sea to save the USSR from famine.

There are three or four temporary exhibitions per year, of high quality, featuring the work of international artists.

Dedicated to the Timurid era and its historical legacy, the Amur Timur Museum opened its doors in 1996, on the occasion of the 660th anniversary of the birth of the great emperor. According to the curator, its architecture is inspired by the Gur Emir of Samarkand, but there is room for doubt... One would rather recognize Tamerlan's crown. The museum possesses some interesting pieces, such as a huge Koran dating from the 7th century, but it is mainly the replicas of Uzbekistan's monuments that attract attention. The Bibi Khanum Mosque and the Gur Emir are reproduced in their original state, which, when you visit the museum at the end of your stay, allows a good comparison with what you will have seen during your stay. A model of the Taj Mahal, built on the order of Babur's grandson, the last of the Timurids chased by the Uzbeks and left to create a new empire in India, by architects from Bukhara, also allows you to compare styles and make comparisons. As can be seen in the paintings exhibited on the second floor, the cult of Tamerlan doubles as that of Uzbekistan, glorified through its national hero and its inescapable president Islam Karimov. These paintings by contemporary artists are extremely poor in style but interesting because they show that the concept of Soviet-style propaganda is far from having disappeared with the collapse of the USSR, and that Uzbekistan under Karimov was certainly one of its best pupils!

The Monument of Courage was erected in memory of the victims of the earthquake of April 26, 1966. With an amplitude of 8.3, the earthquake was fortunately more destructive than deadly. The commemorative statue rests on a fractured floor, evoking the cracks that crisscrossed the Uzbek capital and end at the foot of a very Soviet-looking shirtless figure protecting a woman and her child. The fresco surrounding the monument illustrates the reconstruction of the capital by workers from all over the former USSR.

The Chorsu district, located to the north of the bazaar, is one of the few districts to have emerged virtually intact from the 1966 earthquake. A walk through this labyrinth of blind alleys, most of which end up as dead ends, will give an idea of what the capital of Uzbekistan was like before the disaster that radically changed its face. At the heart of this district, probably the most interesting to visit in Tashkent, is the Barak Khan Madrasa, which is today the centre of the Grand Mufti of Central Asia and dates from the 16th century. Tourists can enter to take a look at the rose garden and the few open cells. Some of them have been renovated into real conference rooms. Opposite, the Tellia Sheikh Mosque dates from the 19th century. The Qur'an of the Caliph Osman, considered the oldest in the world, is kept there, but non-Muslims are not allowed to enter. A little further on, on the left side of the square, the Abu Bakhr Kaffal Shashi mausoleum dates from the 16th century and was erected in memory of one of the first imams, who died in 976, on the site of his tomb. The mosque facing the Barak Khan Madrasa is not a historical monument, it was built in 2007 as part of the renovation of the area and occupies the site of a former wasteland. It's by going deeper into the alleyways that start from the square that the walk takes on its full meaning, between the tchaikhanas where the aksakal, the elders who administer the life of the neighbourhood, meet.

A compendium of traditional and contemporary art of Uzbekistan, in the annex of the Caravan Art restaurant. You will find modern creations inspired by traditional techniques and practices as well as craftsmanship. This one comes from all over the country and consists of collections of suzanis (from Samarkand and Bukhara), ceramics (from Rishtan or Gijduvan) and small souvenirs of all kinds. Also some paintings by Uzbek artists and designers. The quality of the products is rather good but the prices are to be negotiated.

Ayaz Kala is undoubtedly one of the most impressive sites. The complex is composed of three citadels perched on hills of different heights. At the foot of the hills there are traces of settlements and irrigation. The ruins offer an admirable view of the surrounding desert and the Sultan Uvays Mountains as well as Lake Ayaz kul, which is unfortunately tending to disappear. The citadels have retained a good part of their walls. All year round, you can have breakfast or even sleep under the yurts set up behind the citadels. I

The most famous archaeological site in the region with Toprak kala. But also the most disappointing thing: there are only ruins left, overgrown with vegetation. Nevertheless, if you are accompanied by a good guide, there is no doubt that he will be able to make you relive for a moment this citadel which denotes by its circular shape and has preserved a small maze of rooms whose foundations can still be seen. We recommend that you linger on the reconstructed model in the Museum of the Peoples of Uzbekistan in Tashkent to get an idea of its extent.

Having become the regional capital under the Kushans in the 2nd century, it was attacked by the Huns who, by destroying the irrigation canals, overcame the forgotten royal city. Under the direction of Professor Tolstov, excavations began before the Second World War. The frescoes discovered there are on display in St Petersburg, but a collection of objects found at the excavation site by Igor Savitsky is on display at the Nukus Museum. Here, in Toprak Kala, traces of the many rooms and gardens of the royal palace can still be seen.

A first site surrounded by sections of wall is called Little Gouldoursoun. The great Gouldoursoun is 10 km away. The fortresses controlled and protected the irrigation canals. A legend tells how the daughter of the dekhan who ruled the city fell in love with one of the enemies who were besieging the city and how she betrayed her own people by letting the army enter the walls. The unfortunate woman was then abandoned by her lover and the city fell into the hands of the enemies. The same legend is told in Mizdakhan, the ancient city near Nukus.

The mausoleum of Zenghi Ata, the black sheikh, and that of his wife Ambar Bibi were built in the 14th century on the orders of Tamerlan. This Mecca of Islam has recently been renovated and no longer has the appearance of romantic ruin that it had in the 1980s. The pilgrims are fervent and numerous, the tourists discreet. Architecture, decorations and mosaics are typical of the Timurid period. The madrasa, still in use, the small tree-lined courtyard and the mosque are additions from the 18th century, and the mosque from the 19th century. The minaret dates from the beginning of the last century. The mausoleum of Ambar Bibi is in the cemetery next to the mausoleum of Zenghi Ata. Many women come to pray there, going around the building three times while embracing the walls. The walls are covered with prayers, wishes or simple words drawn with pens on the brick. The pilgrims then choose a tree in the cemetery to whose branches they attach small pieces of cloth so that the wind can carry away their prayers and make their fertility wishes come true. This is a good opportunity to visit a funeral building that is the object of fervent pilgrimages while staying out of the tourist circuits to enjoy an authentic and local atmosphere. The best time to make the visit will be on Friday, after the Great Prayer, or during the celebration of Navruz, the festival marking the return of spring, when pilgrims are most active throughout the country.

Tamara, the most popular dancer and singer in Uzbekistan, is the first artist to take to the stage and dance without a veil in public. This was particularly brave for that time, as one of his fellow dancers was murdered in 1929 for having also dared to make this gesture. Her house, where she died in 1991, was turned into a museum a few years later. It will detail many period photographs taken wherever the artist performed in the world, and an exhibition of his stage clothing.