Things to see and do Boukhara

It is undoubtedly the most beautiful square of the city, and in any case the most monumental. The Mir-i-Arab madrasa faces the huge Kalon mosque and its terrible minaret, "the tower of death". Many historical films have been shot in these places, and even if the horsemen of Mohamed Chaybani Khan are not there every day, the students of the madrasa and the pilgrims who go to the mosque take care of the atmosphere. In the evening, the atmosphere is magical: we stroll on the deserted esplanade while enjoying the night illuminations of the minaret and the mosque.

The minaret Kalon. Five times a day, four muezzin climbed the 105 steps of its interior staircase to call to prayer. Their voices carried more than 8 km and the other minarets relayed the call in a radius of 16 km. The minaret was built in 1127 by the Karakhanid Arslan Khan and was not only used to call the faithful to prayer. In the ^17th century, it was from its top that the condemned and other impure were thrown out. The minaret was also used as an observation point during the day and as a lighthouse at night. Every evening, a basin filled with oil was lit in the center of the rotunda located at the top. The caravans arriving from the desert could thus locate themselves, like ships approaching the ports. Genghis Khan, who quickly appreciated its strategic importance, spared the minaret while no other monument of Bukhara survived his passage. 48 m high, with foundations sinking several meters into the ground, the minaret bears its name well, kalon meaning "big". Slightly conical in shape, it is decorated with a succession of rings of fired bricks with different geometric patterns. These bricks were made with camel milk and bull blood! All this terrible beauty did not prevent General Frunze from firing a cannon at the symbol of the power of the holy Bukhara. Badly damaged, the minaret was restored in the 1930s. In the 1970s, an earthquake was not more lenient and made him lose his head, restored since then by the care of Unesco and equipped, since 2019, with a night lighting that does not let escape any detail! For security reasons, it is unfortunately no longer possible to climb the spiral staircase leading to the top of the minaret to enjoy the splendid view offered on Bukhara and the domes of the madrasa.

Kalon Mosque. This imposing jami mosque, the largest after Bibi Khanoum, was rebuilt several times. It is said that a first mud-brick mosque was built in 713, probably on the site of a Buddhist or Zoroastrian temple, a frequent appropriation in this century of religious conquest. The mihrab of the Kalon mosque would have been located further east, at the Ark. In the ^ninth century, the mosque, with an area of 2 ha, was rebuilt according to new plans. The numerous pillars supporting the structure were made of wood, a rare commodity that forced to reduce the surface to one hectare. It is said that a fire destroyed it in the ^11th century, or that the minaret collapsed and almost destroyed it completely. In any case, it was rebuilt in the ^12th century by Arslan khan and destroyed again when Genghis khan passed by in 1220. In 1514, the khan chaybanide Abdullah khan made build a new mosque whose dimensions (130 m on 80) answered the "golden number"; in 1545, his successor made decorate the mihrab of mosaics of it. The immense interior courtyard and the covered galleries with 288 domes could accommodate more than 10,000 faithful. The mosque has seven doors, one facing the sunrise, two facing the sunset and two on each side wing. In the right wing of the mosque, a very deep well is said to contain holy water; it is poured into a huge stone bowl ensuring that it stays fresh. The pilgrims make a vow while drinking it. In the center, a rotunda with eight doors - symbolizing the gates of paradise - was built by the last khan of Bukhara in memory of the martyrs who died during the destruction of the mosque by Genghis Khan. During the Soviet era, from 1924 to 1989, the mosque remained closed, and was transformed into a warehouse and a mill during the Second World War. The blue dome, the Kok Goumbaz, dominating the mihrab, and its portal have been restored with funding from Unesco, told us a holy man meditating in the shadow of a dome, and that is also why, he added, it was not returned to worship, and that non-believers can still admire the most beautiful mosque.

Madrasa Mir-i-Arab. It was built in 1535 by Sheikh Abdullah, a Yemeni religious leader and spiritual guide of Ubaydullah khan. The khan financed its construction through the sale of 3,000 Persian prisoners, Shiite Muslims who were considered infidels and therefore could be sold as slaves. During the Soviet era, this madrasa was the only one authorized to provide religious education in Central Asia. Today, it enjoys a considerable reputation and the students are very numerous. Its access is forbidden to visitors. From the outside, its appearance is imposing and its two blue domes make a beautiful echo to the Kok Goumbaz of the Kalian mosque. The khan Ubaydullah khan and the sheik Abdullah Mir-i-Arab are buried there.

Nicknamed "the pearl of the East", the mausoleum of the Samanides has long been forgotten at the bottom of a cemetery. When the archaeologist Shishkin discovered it in 1930, during the development of Samani Park, it was drowned among other graves, buried under several meters of earth, which saved it from the Mongolian tornado and a thousand years of history. Today the necropolis has disappeared, a park has been laid out around the mausoleum, and a basin has been dug to restore it to its original configuration. The Uzbeks venerate the founder of one of the most prestigious dynasties of Central Asia. The Pearl of the Orient is a witness to the golden age of Bukhara. Built at the beginning of the 10th century by Ismail Samani for his father Akhmad, this dynastic tomb is the second oldest mausoleum in the Muslim world. Its precise dating would make it possible to know whether the tradition of mausoleum building for Muslim dynasties originated here, or in Iraq, with the tomb of the Caliph Al Mountasir. Its architecture retains a Sogdian influence, but incorporates construction techniques that were revolutionary for the time. The mausoleum is conceived as a symbolic representation of the universe: a cube of just under 11 m on each side with four identical façades, symbolizing the earth and stability, surmounted by a semi-spherical dome which is the Sogdian representation of the universe. Above the door of the mausoleum is represented a circle in a square: the Zoroastrian symbol of eternity. Decorative techniques made of bricks assembled in groups of four or five in different directions were also an innovation that would mark the following centuries. The mausoleum has 18 different combinations, including three-dimensional. Its proportions and decorative motifs are based on the principle of the dynamic square, an architectural discovery that gives the ensemble a power and harmony rarely equalled. Depending on the position of the sun, the brickwork gives the monument a different light and appearance, moving, despite its sober form. The builders used baked brick, cemented with egg yolk and camel milk. This unusual material and its skillful assembly allowed the monument to cross more than a millennium without suffering from earthquakes. Pilgrims walk three times around the mausoleum reciting prayers. Some tourists too, because they say that if you make a wish to come back to Bukhara... the wish comes true.

Lost in the alleys east of Liab-i-Khaouz. Tchor Minor means "four minarets". In fact, they are four towers that marked the entrance to a madrasah, now disappeared, built in 1807 by a wealthy Turkmen merchant. Each turret symbolized a city: Termez, Denau, Kounia-Ourgentch and Mecca. Originally, the madrasa had 59 cells and was run by the Sufi Sheikh, Khali Niaz Kholi, one of the most respected and influential naqchbandi of the early 19th century. A staircase leads to a vaulted room and then to the roof.

The huge iwan is set on twenty wooden pillars of Karagatch. The decoration of the wooden ceiling caissons, as well as the painted stalactites adorning the tops of the fine pillars, make this mosque one of the most beautiful in the city. When the Emir went to Friday prayer, carpets were laid on the floor from the Ark door to the entrance of the mosque. The mosque itself dates from 1712, the 12m high iwan, making it one of the highest in Central Asia, was added in the 19th century and the minaret in 1917.

This artificial hill of about twenty meters high was the residence of the Lords of Bukhara. Twenty metres high, many of which are due to the piling up of the ruins of palaces and citadels destroyed and rebuilt in the same place, as a result of the conquests and looting of the city. The oldest foundations found on the site date back more than 2,500 years, but the part visible today is from the 18th century. According to the legend reported by a 16th century Bukhara historian, the founder of Bukhara is Prince Siyavush-ibn Keivakus. The young prince, fleeing from his father, crossed the Jeihun (Amou Daria) and took refuge with Afrosyab, the legendary king, founder of Samarkand. He was welcomed with kindness and married Afrosyab's daughter. Siyavush built a citadel on his new land, but he came into conflict with his father-in-law, and his father-in-law had him murdered a few years later. His body was buried at the foot of his palace, near the east gate, and for a long time the inhabitants of Bukhara worshipped his grave. In the 8th century, the Zoroastrian city was invaded by the Arab conquerors, the citadel destroyed, and a mosque was erected there in 713, in place of the Temple of Fire. Rebuilt by the Samanids, then by the Karakhanids, it was each time destroyed successively by the Kara-Kitai and the Korezmshah and then, in the 13th century, by the Mongols, who, faithful to their reputation, left only ashes. In the 16th century, the Chaybanids undertook the construction of a citadel worthy of their ambitions by raising an artificial hill 800 m in diameter and 20 m high, but it did not withstand the attacks of Nadir Shah. The palace that can be visited today dates back to the Uzbek khanats of the 18th and early 20th centuries. At that time, the Ark was a city within the city inhabited by more than 3,000 people. The complex included gardens, administrative buildings, cowsheds, depots, the Treasury, the armoury, stables, prisons, a mosque, mausoleums, jewellers' shops and the residence of the emir, his wives, family members and slaves in their service. Unfortunately, only 20% of these constructions remain today. Indeed, in September 1920, the Bolshevik army, commanded by General Mikhail Frounze, fired a cannon on the citadel. A fire broke out as Emir Alim Khan fled. We're guessing he might have set it off himself before he fled. The tour begins with the west gate built in 1740 by Nadir Shah. The monumental gate is flanked by two turrets. When Armin Vambery stayed in Bukhara in 1863, he described the Ark as a "den of tyranny" and shuddered at the thought of the Westerners who were then confined there. The door was surrounded by fourteen ornate bronze cannons, a trophy of the Emir's victorious campaign against the Khanate of Kokand. It was also adorned with a clock - disappeared - with an unusual history. Giovanni Orlandi, the Italian watchmaker who made it, had been kidnapped by slave traders in Orenburg in the mid-19th century. The Italian saved his head by promising the Emir to build him a time measuring machine. The Emir was capricious and never tired of the wonders of European technology, but the watchmaker was a believer, stubborn, loved wine and refused to convert to Islam, which was fatal to him. He was the last European to have his head cut off. The covered terrace above the arch of the gate was intended for the Emir and the princely family, who had a front row seat to attend the celebrations and public executions that took place in Registan Square. Beneath the gate, the only remnant from the 19th century, a vaulted corridor is pierced by twelve dark niches, narrow, unsanitary prisons where the personal enemies of the Emir were locked up. One of the niches housed a lantern that burned permanently, to celebrate the memory of Siyavush. It is through this corridor that visitors enter the Ark where souvenir vendors have replaced the prisoners. Most of the buildings such as the apartments of the kushbegi or the kori khana have been transformed into museums: museums of History, Archaeology and Numismatics.

The korunishkhana or throne room. The vast courtyard surrounded by iwan dates from the 17th century. Almost entirely destroyed in the fire of 1920, it has been restored. In the iwan at the back of the court is the throne of the emir in engraved marble, made by craftsmen from Nourata in 1669. During the coronation and official events, the floor was covered with carpet. In the agorakhana, or musical pavilion, an orchestra punctuated the various events of the day, and traditional makom accompanied the Emir's outings and all the official events that took place in the main square. The western part of the fortress offers a splendid view of the monuments of Bukhara, especially Poy Kalon. You can also climb to the steel tower in front of the fortress on the other side of the boulevard (40,000 soums). There you will have a dominant view of the historical center of Bukhara. At sunset, low lights illuminate the fortress walls.

These massive constructions with unusual bulbs, dating from the 16th century, have a very functional architecture. Located at the crossroads of the streets, they have high ogival entrances that allowed traders and camels loaded with goods to move freely. The covered galleries in which the stalls are set up intersect in a central hall surmounted by a high dome. It is cooler here than outside, and the visitor, overwhelmed by the warmth, appreciates the qualities of a commercially oriented architecture when a shrewd merchant invites him to sit in the semi-darkness of his antique shop.

Today, only three of these merchant domes called tâk, which date back to the Chaybanid era, remain, along with the tim Abdullah Khan. In the past, the shopping streets leading to these domes were also lined with shops and protected from the sun by reed mats. Drowning in eternal dust, the traffic was exotic as far as possible, mixing quadrupeds of all sizes and bipeds from all walks of life. Armin Vambery, who in the 19th century was one of the few foreigners to be able to wander freely around the city, says that without having the brilliance and magnificence of the markets of Tehran or Esfahan, the markets of Bukhara were striking for the diversity of races and costumes that one met there.

Tak-i-sarrafan, the dome of the Money Changers. By following westward the canal that borders the southern flank of the Liab-i-Khaouz, one arrives at the Tak-i-Sarrafan dome, known as the "dome of the changers". It was built in 1538 and housed the Jewish money-changers, who were the only ones allowed to engage in this trade, the Uzbeks considering it to be bad luck. If mosques and madrasas are the heart of Bukhara, the merchant domes are its nervous system. It is, in fact, thanks to trade and the resulting taxes that the city was able to experience such a boom.

Tak-i-Telpak Furushan, the dome of the hatters. North of the Magok-i-Attari Mosque, Taq-i-Telpak Furushan, or Dome of the Hatters, was located in the raba, or outer city, just at the southern gate of Shahristan. They sold all kinds of hats, embroidered tioubetek or fur hats, but also books. The tomb of the holy man, Khodja Ahmed-i-Paran, is a reminder to the merchants that there is more than material wealth. Despite its name, the hatters' dome now houses carpet sellers.

The Tim Abdullah Khan. Going north up Hakikat Street, the Tim Abdullah Khan is on the right after the bazaar of hatters. This covered market dates from the end of the 16th century. Today you can find the most beautiful hand woven ikatee silks and a wide selection of carpets from all over the world. The looms are shown at the bottom of the timer.

Tak-i-Zargaran, the dome of the jewelers. Unlike the dome of the hatters, that of the jewellers was located in Shahristan, the inner city of the Middle Ages, between the Mir-i-Arab madrasa and the Ulugh Begh and Abdul Aziz Khan madrasas. Even today, the jewellery merchants are not far away. There is indeed a small gold market in Khodja Nurabad Street, next to the large carpet market. There is some jewelry in the dome of the jewelers, but of poor quality; most shops sell handcrafted souvenirs.

The house of the former President of the People's Republic of Turkestan dates from the end of the 19th century and was built by the father of Fayzulloh, a wealthy Bukharian merchant. An admirable job has been done to reproduce the interior of this house as it was until 1925, when it was transformed into a school by the Bolsheviks. Many murals and period furniture can be admired in the rooms surrounding the three inner courtyards of the house. The rooms of the ichkari, the part of the house reserved for the family, have beautiful period beams and walls with small niches in the style of the old houses of Bukhara. These niches, before finding a decorative vocation, were used as storage spaces and allowed to do without furniture. The iwan, extraordinarily decorated with warm colours and geometric patterns, is made of elm wood that had to be restored many years before it was completed. To get the full measure of this exceptional house, it is best to make an appointment and subscribe to a guided tour (usually in English). You certainly won't regret paying the extra charge for taking pictures either. In the courtyard, note the bust of Fayzulloh Khodjaev. It used to sit in the southwest corner of Liab-i-Khaouz and was cut in three so that it could be reintegrated into the house of its model.

The Jewish quarter of Bukhara is located in the south of the Liab-i-Khaouz basin. It is a picturesque tangle of alleys where the city's large Jewish community used to gather. Synagogues, Jewish schools and houses of all social classes were there. The history of the Jews of Bukhara goes back to the Persian emperor Cyrus who, during his conquest of Babylon, is said to have freed the Jews of the East and encouraged them to settle in his lands in Central Asia. The Jews of Bukhara (a name that actually refers to a larger community than just the Jews living in Bukhara to include all the Jews of Central Asia) are believed to be descendants of those Babylonian Jews who arrived in the ^fifth century B.C., making it one of the oldest known Jewish communities.

Over time, other Eastern Jewish communities (from Yemen, Morocco or Iran) have grown the original Persian-speaking community. The Jews of Bukhara spoke Bukhariot, a dialect with Persian roots which they wrote in Hebrew letters, especially for poetic texts. Even today, very few of them speak Uzbek, but they do speak Russian and Tajik.

The first synagogue was built in 1620; before that, Jews officiated in mosques. The community grew in trade and specialized in fabric dyeing, but was extremely isolated from the rest of the Eastern Jews and widely persecuted. She is obliged to live in a certain neighbourhood, is not allowed to ride horses, cannot wear silk. Like the Marannes, converted to Catholicism but practising Judaism in secret to escape the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition of the 15th century, some Jews converted to Islam. They are called the Chala here. In 1793, a Sephardic rabbi, Joseph Maimon, arrived in Bukhara and discovered a local cult mixed with Persian influences and Zoroastrianism. He decided to change all this and converted the Jews of Bukhara to the Sephardic liturgy practiced today.

The arrival of the Russians in the 19th century paradoxically appears to be good news for the community. Paradoxically because the Russian Empire and its pogroms are not a priori great supporters of Judaism. However, at the time, the Russians appeared to be less virulent towards the community and the Chalas could return to their original religion without fear of persecution. Unfortunately for them, the Jews of Bukhara are not at the end of their sentence and the arrival of the Bolsheviks sounds the death knell of the community. The 13 synagogues of Bukhara are closed, rich merchants sent to camps, religious practice forbidden. Tired of all these successive persecutions, the Jews of Bukhara migrated en masse to Israel and the United States upon independence. Today, there are about 50,000 in the New York area of Queens alone and 100,000 in Israel. There are less than 300 of them in Bukhara. The few remaining families take care of the two synagogues that have reopened, the school and the cemetery. The beautiful houses in the area have been bought and often transformed into charming guest houses. Today it is very pleasant to stroll through this maze of narrow streets to taste the atmosphere and the beautiful architecture. Most Jewish houses have been converted into guesthouses, so it is often possible to visit the interior.

East of the jewelers' bazaar. "Kosh madrasa" means "two madrasas". This term refers to all buildings facing each other or belonging to the same complex. Thus, southwest of the Bolo Khaouz Mosque, the two madrasas Modar-i-Khan and Abdullah Khan are also known as "kosh madrasas". The Ulugh Begh Madrasa dates from 1417, it is the oldest of the two. It was built by Ulugh Begh, the astronomical prince of Samarkand, Tamerlan's successor. The inscription on the front door recalls the wisdom and open-mindedness of its builder: "To aspire to knowledge is the duty of every Muslim. "Open-mindedness that few of his contemporaries and successors shared, since the building, like all madrasas, remained closed to women. This was the first of three madrasas built by Ulugh Begh, the other two being in Samarkand and Gidjuvan, 45 km from Bukhara in the direction of Samarkand. The Madrasa of Bukhara is smaller in size than its sister Madrasa of the Registan of Samarkand, but its harmonious proportions and the skilful sobriety of its decoration make it a fine example of Bukhara's medieval architecture and a precious legacy of the Timurid architecture in Bukhara, which was much neglected in this period compared to Samarkand. After independence, students were able to return to study in the madrasah cells, but the government finally preferred to restore it and open it to tourism.

The city's Restoration Museum is housed in the old mosque on the right, and souvenir and craft shops have invaded the cells. A spiral staircase leads to the vaulted roof above the entrance. Much less sober than its neighbour, the madrasa of Abdul Aziz Khan was built two hundred years later, in 1654, when Bukhara had become the capital of the khanate. The architecture and decoration of the imposing madrasa built under the Chaybanids were carried out by the best master craftsmen of the time.

The mosaic of the pishtak, or entrance portal, as well as that of the portals leading to the inner courtyard, is a bright yellow tangle of vegetation with simorgh birds and even a dragon. These decorations, like those on the façade of the Nadir-Divanbeg Madrasa, are a departure from the Islamic rule forbidding figurative art. But the decorator of the madrasah, Abdul Aziz Khan, seems to have ventured to the limits of tolerance: from the darskhana, looking at the back of the mosque when the lights are off, and letting the eyes get used to the darkness, one can see the faded silhouette of a man in a turban, which disappears as one walks towards the entrance and the eyes get used to the light again. Many different techniques were used to decorate the madrasa: relief majolica, painted gantch casts, engraved marble, chiselled mosaic... The decoration of the interior domes of the winter and summer mosques is particularly remarkable. The darskhana to the right of the entrance, transformed into an antique shop, is worth seeing for two reasons: its unrestored decoration is sublime and there are beautiful carpets and suzani. The madrasa also has fireplaces, a great innovation for the time. The decoration of the façade and part of the courtyard has remained unfinished. Indeed, Abdul Aziz Khan was dethroned and his successor put an end to the work.

Before the Arab conquest there was a market and a Buddhist temple on this site, then a Zoroastrian temple dedicated to the moon. The first mosque was built in the 9th century - making it the oldest in Central Asia - on the ruins of the temple, as was customary at that time, building on the existing foundations. It was completely rebuilt in the 12th century and remodelled in the 16th century. But following the destruction of Genghis Khan, it was found below ground level and was only discovered in 1839 by Shishkin, the same archaeologist who had unearthed the Samani mausoleum in the cemetery, which was buried under the ground for the same reasons. Excavations have also brought to light the south portal of the 12th century mosque. Shishkin also discovered traces of the Zoroastrian temple dating back to the ^5th century, and the even older Buddhist temple. Over the centuries, the ground level had risen several meters and the Magok Mosque had been half buried underground. Already for the construction of the east portal, which dates from the 16th century, the entrance had to be adapted to the change in street level, and a staircase with wide steps leads down to the entrance of the mosque. The mosque has a very colourful name that reflects its history: "agok" means "underground" and "attor" means "merchant". The mosque now serves as a carpet exhibition hall. To the east, the wells go down into the earth to where the Buddhist temple used to be.

The mazar, in fact a chapel, is a place as revered as the Ismail Samani mausoleum. Chachma Ayoub means "source of Job". Legend has it that Job, the Old Testament prophet, brought a spring of pure water by planting his pilgrim's staff there. It is not the only mausoleum in the Muslim world dedicated to Job, and his tomb will be found more than once where a spring of pure water springs in Syria, Iraq or the Sultanate of Oman. Recent archaeological research has established that a mazar was built here as early as the 9th century, but the present building dates from the 14th and 16th centuries. It consists of four main rooms in which the gurkhana, the holy water spring, and the rooms for pilgrims are located. Near the entrance to the gurkhana, an inscription attributes the construction of the mazar to Amir Hadjaj and thanks Tamerlan for his benevolence. On the wooden plank, another inscription records the arrival of the Prophet Ayub and his death in Bukhara. It is the only building in Bukhara that dates back to the time of Tamerlan. The cone-shaped dome, built in the 14th century, is typical of Khorezm architecture and was executed by craftsmen from Kounia Ourgench whom Tamerlan had brought back from his military campaigns. The round lantern dome was added in the 16th century. The spring, reputed for its healing properties, is supposed to cure skin diseases. The mazar now houses a museum dedicated to the history and different techniques of water supply in Bukhara.

The summer residence of the khans of Bukhara is located in a huge park of more than 6 ha, 5 km from the city. It is a privileged place for walking because of its coolness, especially during the hot summer hours. A first palace surrounded by gardens was built by Amir Akhad Khan at the end of the 19th century. Alim Khan, his son, added a new building in 1914. Bukhara's last khan had studied in St. Petersburg, and his way of life was affected. He commissioned a palace that was undoubtedly intended to be at the cutting edge of modernity, blending Russian architecture with the decorative style of Central Asia. The result is surprising. The tour includes three different bodies of buildings, which have been transformed into museums: the apartments and reception rooms of Alim khan, the octagonal palace and the harem. The reception rooms of Emir Alim Khan, built in a row, in the western style, are a contribution of the Russian architects working at the court of the Emir. The white room is a unique work of art, its walls are entirely covered with finely chiselled white gantch on a background of mirrors. The construction of this Bukhar version of the Ice Palace took three years, during which the architect refused the khan entry to the construction site. When Alim Khan was finally able to admire the result, he was overwhelmed and, resuming the good old ancestral habits, decided to have the architect killed so that he could not share his art with others. Fortunately, Chirin Muradov, the architect of the clean room, was warned in time and managed to escape. At the entrance, a high boudoir is decorated with stalactite niches in which are painted unusual and beautiful bouquets of multicoloured flowers. The walls and ceiling of the games room and waiting room are entirely decorated with gold panels, covered with an extraordinary and somewhat oppressive mosaic of mirrors. The banquet hall is the most original and sumptuous, it had four decorative walls, one for each season, which were changed thanks to a mechanism that no one remembers, but, in any case, the other three decorations disappeared after the revolution. In these rooms are displayed various gifts offered to the Emir, including an original all-glass refrigerator. The mirzo-khona, or secretary's room, is the most sober of the rooms, its three-wing mirror is, it seems, magical. Looking at it, you have to make a wish, which comes true within 40 days... At the end of the building, the veranda exposes a beautiful collection of antique vases from all over the world. The octagonal palace is a museum devoted to national costume, where ceremonial clothes, multicoloured khalat or dark paranjas are displayed amidst pictures of the princely family. Clothes were usually made by women, but gold thread designs were embroidered only by men. The octahedral hall for guests was originally decorated with gold leaf; after the revolution, gold would have been replaced by bronze and taken to Russia. The harem houses the Embroidery Museum. The different decorative techniques are illustrated by one of the most beautiful collections of suzani from Uzbekistan. In front of the harem is a large body of water. It is said that the Emir used to sit in the domed platform that borders this pool to watch his wives bathe, and would choose the chosen one from his heart by throwing an apple at her.

Built at the beginning of the 19th century, this miniature madrasa behind the Kalian minaret often goes unnoticed, eclipsed as it is by its huge neighbours. It nevertheless presents an interesting unusual architecture. Indeed, it has three interior courtyards, intended for classrooms and living quarters. It is now a children's library but it is possible to go there to take a few steps and enjoy the timeless atmosphere that floats there, contrasting with the tourist crowd outside.

The city was fortified from the very beginning. The Ark was a citadel surrounded by high walls, and Shakhrestan, the Inner City, also had its walls. And to protect itself from nomadic attacks, the oasis of Bukhara was surrounded by a wide enclosure of several tens of kilometres. It was consolidated in the 8th century, after the Arab conquest. Like the city, these fortifications were frequently destroyed and rebuilt. At the end of the ninth century, Ismail Samani had the wall surrounding the oasis of Bukhara rebuilt again: "As long as I am alive," he said, "I will be the wall of Bukhara. "During the reign of Abdul Aziz Khan in 1540, the imposing walls that protected the city from the outside world were 12 km long and 11 m high. They had 11 sturdy double doors flanked by turrets that remained closed at night. The walls suffered some clashes during the feudal wars, but protected the city until the Russian conquest. In 1920, the Bolshevik army left only a few kilometres of it, large parts of which can still be seen today in the bazaar district and in the south-west of the city. The best-preserved parts are just north of the Ismail Samani Mausoleum, around the Talipoch Gate, once decorated with gold nails, and one of only two that have survived to the present day. It was here, until the Russians arrived, that the slave market was held, which has since been replaced by the great bazaar Kolkhoznaya.

The huge square, the ancient heart of Bukhara, seems quite empty. The residences of the Bukhariot nobles, the three madrasas and the mosque that surrounded it were destroyed at the beginning of the century. The only monument erected in the square was a statue of Lenin, which in turn disappeared in 1992. It was in this square, where there was also a very lively bazaar, that the public executions took place. Its only interest today is a metal tower from the top of which one can enjoy the view of the city, with the fortress guard house in the foreground.

Sadly famous, these prisons built in the 18th century tried to rival hell. On Fridays, some prisoners were freed from the chains around their necks, and compassionate relatives or passers-by could bring them food for the week. Perhaps the supreme punishment was not death, but a 6-metre deep well, the "black well", where the condemned were forgotten among the rats and all the most voracious insects of creation. Some captives managed to survive for several months. In 1839, an Englishman, Lieutenant Charles Stoddart, charged with making an alliance with Emir Nasrullah, tasted the distress of the Black Well for disrespecting the Emir by riding when he should have been walking, and walking when he should have been crawling. Furthermore, his mission statement was not from Queen Victoria. He spent six months at the bottom of the hole before earning his grace by converting to Islam. He remained a prisoner but was free to move around the city and stay in his own apartments. In September 1840, a captain of the Bengal Light Infantry, Arthur Conolly, came to inquire about the fate of his compatriot and to try to free him. Shortly after his arrival, the British army was defeated in Afghanistan at the Battle of Khyber Pass. The Emir, in a position of strength, convinced by his advisers that Conolly was a spy, had the two men thrown into the black well. In June 1842, when Conolly refused to convert to Islam, the two English officers were executed in Registan Square, where their bodies probably still lie. Nothing is known of their deaths, however, it is said that Stoddart, a convert to Islam, died beheaded or with his throat cut, but without suffering. Conolly, who refused conversion, probably wasn't so lucky. The story is known thanks to the notebook that Conolly held to the bottom of his well, which was found by the Reverend Joseph Wolff in 1845. Hopkirk's book, The Great Game, also tells the story of these two heroic victims of the "great game" in detail. Mannequins now replace the most famous prisoners of the Black Pit, but the two English officers are not represented. Outside the prisons is the tomb of Saint Kuchar Ata, overlooked by the traditional perch, where prisoners were allowed to practice religious rites.

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.

The two madrasas Modar-i-Khan and Abdullah Khan are located to the southwest of the Bolo-Khauz Mosque. The smaller of the two, the Modar-i-Khan Madrasa, dedicated to the mother of Abdullah khan, was built in 1566, at the beginning of the Emir's reign. It is a madrasa of classical architecture, comprising a level of cells where the students lived and a mosque and a courtyard room, or darskhana, overlooking an inner courtyard. The same craftsmen and souvenir shops can be found there today as in other madrasas in Bukhara. The Abdullah Khan Madrasa dates back to 1588. Also built by Abdullah khan, but then at the height of its glory, its appearance exudes more power than its modest neighbour. The madrasa has a traditional layout, with a large courtyard surrounded by cells, but the architects have complicated the structure by increasing the number of cells at the corners of the buildings with courtyard rooms topped by a dome. The 'Abdullah's Lantern', located in the north wing, is an example of these architectural finds. This octahedral hall is surrounded by two-storey ogival galleries. The entrance to the madrasah can be closed, but it is possible to enter the madrasah by going around the left side. Unless the restorers have taken it over, you will be able to wander freely through this veritable labyrinth and discover the star-shaped decorations on the interior domes of the mosque and darskhana.