TAK-I-SARRAFAN, THE "DOME OF THE MONEY CHANGERS"..

Following the west on the west side of the basin, you arrive at the Tak-i-Sarrafan dome, known as the "coupole dome". It was built in 1538 and housed the Jews changers and only empowered to engage in this occupation, the Uzbeks considering that it is a misfortune. If mosques and madrasahs are the heart of Bukhara, merchant domes are the nervous system. It was because of the trade and the taxes that flowed from it that the city was experiencing such a rise. These massive constructions with unusual bulbs dating from the th century have a very functional architecture. Located at the intersection of the streets, it has high ogival entrances which allow traders and camels loaded with goods to move freely. The covered galleries in which the shops are located intersect in a central hall surmounted by a high dome. It is more expensive than outside, and the heat-laden visitor greatly appreciates the qualities of business-promoting architecture when a smart merchant invites him to sit down in the light store. There are now three of these merchant domes named tâk dating back to the time of the Chaybanides. In the past, the shopping streets that led to these domes were also lined with shops and protected from the sun by mats of reeds. Drowned in an eternal dust, the traffic was exotic as it could, mixing four-foot four of all sizes and walking. Armin Vambery, who in the th century was one of the few foreigners able to walk freely in the city, said that without the brilliance and magnificence of the markets in Tehran or Isfahan, the markets in Bukhara were striking by the diversity of races and costumes that were met there. Located in the south of the raba, or the outside city, on the left bank of the Shährud Canal and at the junction of the arteries leading to all the doors of the city, this covered market enjoyed a particularly favourable location. The marchande was part of a series of constructions designed in the early th century, including a mosque and baths. The coupole of the changers is now invested by souvenir merchants. Crossing the southern portal, we enter the Jewish neighbourhood, but most of Bukhara's Jews have migrated to Europe and the United States since independence.