ARK, EMIR'S FORTRESS

This artificial hill, some twenty metres high, was once the residence of the lords of Bukhara. Twenty metres high, many of them the result of successive piles of ruins from palaces and citadels destroyed and rebuilt on the same site as the city was conquered and pillaged. The oldest foundations found on the site date back over 2,500 years, but the part visible today dates back to the ^18th century.

According to a legend recounted by a ^16th-century Bukhara historian, the founder of Bukhara was Prince Siyavush-ibn Keivakus. Fleeing his father, the young prince crossed the Jeihun (Amou Daria) and took refuge with Afrosyab, the legendary king and founder of Samarkand. He was warmly welcomed and married his daughter. Siyavush built a citadel on his new land, but came into conflict with his father-in-law. The latter had him assassinated a few years later. His body was buried at the foot of his palace, near the eastern gate. For a long time, the local population venerated his tomb.

In the ^8th century, the Zoroastrian city was invaded by Arab conquerors, the citadel was destroyed and, in 713, a mosque was built in place of the Fire Temple. Rebuilt by the Samanids, then by the Karakhanids, it was destroyed with each new conquest by the Kara-Kitais and Korezmshahs and, in the ^13th century, by the Mongols, who, true to their reputation, left nothing but 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 failed to withstand the attacks of Nadir Shah.

The palace we visit today dates back to the Uzbek khanates of the ^18th and early ^20th centuries. In those days, the Ark was a city within a city, inhabited by over 3,000 people. The complex included gardens, administrative buildings, stables, warehouses, the treasury, the armory, stables, prisons, a mosque, mausoleums, jewelry shops and the residence of the emir, his wives, family members and the slaves attached to their service. Only 20% of these buildings remain. In September 1920, the Bolshevik army commanded by General Mikhail Frounze fired cannons at the citadel. A fire broke out as Emir Alim Khan fled. There's even speculation that he may have set the fire before fleeing!

The tour begins at the West Gate, built in 1740 by Nadir Shah, and accessed via a ramp. The monumental gate is flanked by two turrets. When Armin Vambery visited Bukhara in 1863, he described the Ark as a "den of tyranny" and shuddered at the thought of Westerners being locked inside! The gate was protected by fourteen ornate bronze cannons, trophies of the Emir's victorious campaign against the Khanate of Kokand. And adorned with a clock - no longer in existence - with an unusual history. Giovanni Orlandi, the Italian watchmaker who made it, was kidnapped by slave traders in Orenburg in the ^mid-19th century. The Italian saved his own life by promising to build the Emir a time-measuring machine. The Emir was capricious and couldn't get enough of the wonders of European technology, but the watchmaker was religious, stubborn, loved wine and refused to convert to Islam, which proved fatal. He was the last European to have his head cut off.

The covered terrace above the gateway arch was intended for the emir and the princely family, who had a front-row seat for the festivities and public executions held in Registan Square. Beneath the gate, the only ^19th-century remains, a vaulted corridor was pierced by twelve dark niches: the narrow, unsanitary prisons where the Emir's personal enemies were kept. 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 sellers have replaced prisoners. Most of the buildings, such as the kushbegi 's apartments and the kori khana, have been converted into museums: museums of history, archaeology and numismatics.

The korunishkhana or throne room. The vast courtyard surrounded by iwans dates back to the ^17th century. Almost completely destroyed by fire in 1920, it has now been restored. In the iwan at the far end of the courtyard is the Emir's throne in engraved marble, made by Nourata craftsmen in 1669. During coronations and official events, the floor was covered with carpets. In theagorakhana, or musical pavilion, an orchestra punctuated the various events of the day, and traditional makom accompanied the emir's exits and all official events held in the main square.

The western part of the fortress offers a splendid view of Bukhara's monuments and the city's rooftops, particularly Poy Kalon. You can also climb the steel tower opposite the fortress, on the other side of the boulevard (40,000 soums). The view from here is just as commanding. At sunset, the low-angled lights set the fortress walls ablaze.