Things to see and do Nourata

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 sacred spring of Nourata, according to legend, was discovered by Hazrat Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed, who made the water gush out by planting his stick in the ground. The spring must have been known long before that time and its location at the foot of the Sogdian citadel may suggest that it was already venerated in pre-Islamic times. In the 10th century, a first mosque was built near the spring. The great Namazgoh Mosque was built on its foundations in the 16th century, with twenty-five domes supported by arches resting on solid pillars. This mosque went through a difficult period during the communist era when it was used as a granary. It is now reopened for worship. The courtyard facing it has been restored, perhaps with too much zeal: the century-old trees have been replaced by a paved courtyard surrounding a marble fountain. On one of its sides are exposed several engraved tombstones, one of which dates back to the Sogdian period.

Overhanging behind the basin is the tomb of the patron saint and founder of Nourata, Sheik Abdul Hassan Nouri, a Muslim missionary who came from Baghdad to Bukhara in the 8th century. Next to the basin, a deep well marks the holy spring. It is said that Karimov, the former President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, used to carry water from this holy spring. Pilgrims, on the other hand, come to drink it and bring back full bottles. In any case, thousands of very voracious carps attest to its purity.