Archaeological sites Uzbekistan

Founded in the 1st century BC, it was the residence of the Bukhar-Khudat, the Hephtalite kings who ruled after the Kushans. The city then exceeded Bukhara in size and, when the Arab conquerors seized it, they killed King Sukan and destroyed his palace, then beheaded the military leader who attempted a rebellion. The city, until the 12th century, remained an important economic centre. But it was not as fortunate as Bukhara and, after the Mongols destroyed its irrigation system, it quickly became a ghost town.

This fortress has a set of high walls behind which the garrison of Toprak kala was sheltered. It is well worth the detour, but the runoff of rain over the centuries has considerably weakened its foundations. And the comings and goings of tourists who take advantage of the lack of demarcation to survey the ramparts has obviously not helped. Some renovations have taken place in recent years, so no matter how spectacular the views are, try to respect what remains of the walls when you visit.

The citadel immediately impresses with its vast expanse. The walls have been rather well preserved and it is possible to go almost all the way around without going down. Just as in Ayaz kala, Djambaz kala is in the middle of the desert and occupies a particularly photogenic site, near a lake, populated only by a few eagles and marmots. Observe the huge sand dunes that form on the sides of the walls and which bear witness to the silting up of the region following the disappearance of the Aral Sea. 500 yards away, yurt camp.

The Kampir-Tepe fortress lies on a terrace on the right bank of the Amu Darya River, 30 km west of the city of Termez. Built in the 3rd century BC at the crossroads of trade routes near the border areas, it is part of the settlements of the Kushan Empire. Alexander the Great passed through it when he crossed the Amud Daria. The present site was excavated in 1972 and archaeological work was carried out in the 1990s. Traces of Buddhism have been discovered there, making Kampir Tepe an essential reference. The site is magnificent.

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.

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 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.

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.

The ancient city of Afrosyab, whose foundation dates back to the end of the 8th century BC, lies on a 220-hectare plateau north of Samarkand. Called Maracanda by the Greeks, this ancient city took the name of the mythical king of Touran described by the poet Firdussi in Shahname. Since the 19th century, generations of archaeologists have studied the traces of the different civilizations that lived there. You can see the results of their excavations in the Afrosyab museum. The foundations of the city show a typical pattern of ancient Central Asian cities, generally located on agricultural land and near a river, with a long enclosure surrounding a very dense residential area and an area of official buildings, the 'upper city' where the palace is located. The ramparts built at the edge of the cliff were more than 5 km long. Consolidated under the Achaemenids, they were partially destroyed around the gates during the attacks of Alexander the Great and then rebuilt. Even today, part of the Hellenistic fortifications can still be seen, impressive ramparts with arrow-shaped loopholes. These walls were fortified barracks and originally included an internal gallery on two or three levels that housed the soldiers. As for the rampart housing the suburban area, it measured 13 km! The excavations, together with the study of the testimonies reported by the Greek historian Arrien, made it possible to locate the palace of the Achaemenid satraps in the northern part of the city. It was during a banquet given in this palace that Alexander the Great murdered his companion Cleitos. A few years ago, the young son of the archaeologist Mukhamadjon Issamiddinov, who often accompanied his father to the excavation site, discovered a gilded silver plate that was part of the ornament of a harness buried in the loess. In 1220, the horseman who hid his overly conspicuous harness in the bottom of this well, at the gates of the city, had to flee from the Mongols who were besieging the city. Perhaps he hoped to bring him to safety to find him after the war, but he surely never imagined sending a message through the centuries. During the Kushan period and the development of the Silk Road, the Sogdian city flourished. In the museum you can admire a fresco from the 7th century discovered in Varkhumman Palace. A procession of ambassadors offering gifts to the ruler of Samarkand, perhaps on the occasion of his marriage: Bactrians perched on camels, long-haired Türks, Korean nobles with double egret hairstyles, and a Chinese princess accompanied by her retinue. When the Arab conquerors seized the city in the 8th century, the palace was destroyed, as well as the Zoroastrian temple, the legendary "temple of idols" of Samarkand, traces of which archaeologists found under the mosque built in the 8th century. These successive constructions on the same foundations create an incredible subterranean tangle, sometimes reaching a depth of 10 m with five different levels of construction, sometimes more. In the 13th century, the Mongol conquest put an end to almost two millennia of urban existence on this loess hill and, after the destruction of the irrigation and water supply system, the inhabitants moved to the lower part of the city where the new Samarkand of Tamerlan was founded.

The vast earthen facade and its 2.5 m thick walls have given rise to one of the most beautiful legends of Termez. In the 40 rooms distributed over two floors of this building were murdered by the troops of Genghis Khan the 40 women of the khan of Termez who gloriously resisted the invader when he attacked the children. In reality, according to archaeologists, it is simply a building built by the rich so that they can take refuge during heavy sandstorms, frequent in the region. The building was originally entirely closed by the roof. Thin windows opened on both floors and, as a result of a clever calculation, the sun's rays reached the center of the building at certain times of the day.

Today it is more of a playground for children coming out of school, but a short walk through the venerable corridors will convince you that the legend is still alive: in the corridor facing the entrance, at its left end, a votive tree proves that it is still alive. In the present state of the building, it is difficult to appreciate the complexity of its architecture, but a better idea can be obtained by comparing it with the model presented by the Termez Archaeology Museum. A part of the walls has been restored, but the interior is more like a field of ruins collapsing on itself a little more each year.

On a small height, a few hundred meters from Fayaz Tepe, this Buddhist complex in military terrain is inaccessible. From Fayaz Tepe, however, you can see the landforms of the land where caves are excavated in the hill. Kara Tepe is an archeological site of major importance since it is the only troglodyte ensemble found in Central Asia. It covered about 7 hectares, or at least 10 times more than the land occupied by its outland, Fayaz Tepe. A succession of pieces dating from different periods covering several centuries. Some sections included both outdoor constructions and underground parts. As in Fayaz Tepe, excavations have shown that an irrigation system allows the water to recover, that many niches housed Buddha's gold or ceramic sculptures, and that wills were resting on impressive colonnades. Its foundation dates from the century, archeologists believe that its apogee is around the third and fourth centuries before experiencing a fatal decline around the Ve century. Walking on the mounds and small hills surrounding Fayaz Tepe, you can only imagine what is beneath our feet.

Fayaz Tepe, a Buddhist complex from the 1st century AD, is a magical, timeless and particularly moving place. In the middle of the steppe, with Amu Daria in the background and Afghanistan within reach, one is overwhelmed by the calm and beauty of the place. A labyrinth of living rooms and places of worship, the complex welcomed pilgrims from all over the world 2,000 years ago. Its renovation was entirely completed in 2004 with the support of UNESCO: the stupa is now sheltered from bad weather by a dome. If you're lucky, the guard will let you in and take a look around what's left of the original stupa. He will describe the golden Buddhas that adorned alcoves, the feasts that were prepared in gargantuan kitchens, and the moments of rest when pilgrims and monks took a cool break under airy awnings. The small neighbouring museum does not host the results of the excavations, which are mostly divided between the Archaeological Museum of Termez and the Museum of the History of the Peoples of Uzbekistan. In the central courtyard, a reconstructed pond illustrates the ingenious rainwater harvesting system that had been put in place. In this regard, an irrigation system had also been developed to convey the waters of the Amou Daria River, which is several dozen kilometres from the site. Try to visit Fayaz Tepe in the light at the end of the day: with the steppe that unfolds infinitely all around it is of absolute simplicity and poetry.

This stupa is all that remains of a Buddhist complex erected on the outskirts of Termez in the 1st century AD, at the same time as Fayaz Tepe and Kara Tepe located nearby. The original height of this brick tower, where Buddhist monks came to deposit their offerings, is not known. Today, its 16 m high dominates a vast expanse of cotton fields and deserted fields. The remains uncovered by the Soviets were transferred to Russia and, in the absence of an explanation, the tower remains somewhat mysterious.