Monuments to visit Route de la soie

This small palace, which was built between 1861 and 1865 under Sultan Abdülaziz (1861-1876), will certainly surprise by its relatively controlled elegance. Admittedly, a guided tour in a small group is required but, due to its small size (65 m long), its approach remains more personal. The site had already attracted the attention of the sultans, who did not fail to have pavilions built there where they would withdraw from time to time. We find the Balyan family at the origin of its architecture. It was conceived as a kind of understudy to Dolmabahçe, in a way a second home. It has also become above all the residence of statesmen. Many crowned heads, such as Tsar Nicholas II or King Edward VIII, have tasted the pleasures of the waters of the Bosphorus, but above all we like to mention a famous beauty, Empress Eugenie, daughter of the Count of Teba and wife of Napoleon III. In the company of the orientalist painter Charles-Theodore Frère, who was appreciated by the Court and the aristocrats in his time, the Empress visited Istanbul (1869) before travelling to Egypt as a guest of the Khedive Ismail Paşa for the inauguration of the canal. The aubergine purée owes its name to it: hünkar beğendi means "Her Majesty has appreciated". The internal decoration combines the Western and Eastern styles. The carpets in the six lounges and 24 rooms are admirable. The garden and the two pavilions, Mermer Köşk and Sarı Köşk, are the perfect complement to the whole.

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 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.

The west side of the Mendeleevskaya linia includes one of the oldest monuments on the island and the largest Baroque building in the city, the Twelve Colleges. With its 400 m long façade, its sienna red colour and its white pilasters, it is easily recognizable. It was to house the 12 identical ministries of three levels (called Colleges) founded by Peter the Great. Built between 1722 and 1742 by the Swiss-Italian architect Domenico Trezzini (who also designed the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Summer Palace), this building was to correspond to the modern idea of bureaucracy as conceived by Peter the Great. It also attests to the Tsar's desire to make Vasilyevsky Island the great administrative district of the new imperial capital. It therefore hosted Russia's highest authorities for much of the 18th century. The separate doors between the twelve colleges indicated their autonomy, while their common facade indicated their common purpose. In 1819, these buildings were assigned to the university, and it was here that Mendeleyev set up his Periodic Table of the Elements and Pavlov experimented with conditioned reflexes.

A rather tedious official authorization is required to visit the premises, so you will certainly have to be content to admire the building from the outside. Contact a local agency in advance to arrange a visit.

" The doors of the Father ", or doors to the west, were the main doors of the city. They had a bazaar and also hosted the changers. Destroyed in 1920, they were restored by the Soviets in 1975. It is usually by these doors that tourists begin their visit to the old town and buy tickets that give them access to all monuments inside (except access to minarets and watch towers).

Krestovskiy Island (just north of Petrogradskiy Island, to which it is connected by two bridges) is home to the most modern stadium in Russia. A new arena for Russia's most powerful club, Zenit St. Petersburg, owned by the giant Gazprom, this ultra-modern sports arena was one of the flagship stadiums for the 2018 Football World Cup (including the France-Belgium semi-final on 10 July). 69,500 seats facing the Gulf of Finland and a spaceship design fantasized by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.

More modest, it faces the fortress of Rumeli. Anadolu means "Anatolia" in Turkish, although it is usually called Güzelce Hisar. It was built under Beyazıd I, known as Lightning (Yıldırım; 1389-1402), because the sultan was known as lively, energetic and, of course, coveted Constantinople. The fortress appears in order to control the strait. It is small in size and has lost part of its overall size over time, as houses have come to lean against it.

Located on the outskirts of the city, the statue of Lenin found in the old Leninabad is almost no surprise in Central Asia. It dominates the town of its 22 m, deployed on a hill across the river over the city centre.

The remains of the imposing citadel (or Arg) in decrepitude, built in the early days of the Mongolian occupation, at the beginning of the XIV century, occupy the location of an ancient mosque disappeared five centuries earlier. The heavy bastion that stands at more than 40 m high, reinforced by two powerful cylindrical towers and pierced with two high doors, retains a certain look. The thickness of the walls (10 m) and the quality of the equipment testify to the mastery of the military art of Mongols in these exposed border cities. A few years ago, it was possible to climb the top of the remains to enjoy the street, but at the moment the citadel was taken in the restoration yard of the nearby Imam Khomeiny mosque. It was even thought of a time to shave, but the population mobilized to save the remains of the city's great past.

" Ya Allah, there Allah, there Allah! " Like the song of a song, this little sentence pronounced with a tonic accent justifies in the aisles of the bazaar. Used by porters to warn of their arrival, it adds to the prevailing noise in this huge market. A real city in the city, it offers all the goods and services that can be imagined; barber, trader of appliances, beauty products and houses unusual scenes. Here, a kitchen clerk peeling onions, here a thommessen repriser one of his pieces. A few figures will measure the country's greatest bazaar, which is classified as a UNESCO heritage by UNESCO. The complex covers a network of 36 km of narrow streets, a veritable labyrinth in the heart of the city and covers 75 hectares with no fewer than 5 555 shops. If the exact dates of its creation remain uncertain, most of the current structure date of the Essentiel period (1750-1779).

In the left aisle you will find most carpet merchants. Tabriz is obviously one of the best steps for this type of purchase. There are mainly nomadic carpets, but carpets closer to Isfahan or Nain styles are also very numerous. To discover them and to negotiate them in the goutant of the cool secret is pure happiness!

One of the most pleasant places to shop is certainly the caravanserai.

This house dates from the 17th century, and was built on the initiative of Murad IV's mother, Sultana Kösem. A large part of the han is now dilapidated. A large square tower, 25 m high and located in the third courtyard, belonged to the Praetorium built by Arcadius, and was used as a prison in the Byzantine period. It is necessary to go up to the first floor by the stairs on the left after the entrance and go on the roof. From there, among the domes of the han, you can have an exceptional view of the Galata Bridge, the Bosphorus, the European shore, and the roofs of Sultanahmet.

The fortress, even if imposing, has no particular features. Its charm comes above all from its dream location on the banks of the Bosporus. Climb the steps of the 57-metre high Zaganos Tower to dominate the Bosporus. Even the strong wind does not spoil the pleasure. The quays are charming all around, and you will find small cafés and restaurants to recharge your batteries.

In 1452, Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror was determined to get his hands on the irreducible Constantinople. For several years now, he has been developing a vast conquest project, including the unprecedented design of super-powerful guns. Nothing should be left to chance and especially not the Bosporus Strait, which could well see the arrival of a Christian fleet landing from the Black Sea via the Danube. The sultan himself drew up the plans and more than 3,000 workers were busy working day and night. In 4 months and 13 days, a 250 m long fortress appeared. Facing a previous fortress (Anadolu Hisarı), it is the narrowest point of the strait without forgetting the currents that make navigation dangerous! Constantine XI Dragases, still unaware that he would join history forever as the last emperor of Byzantium, tried to oppose it. That's where the legend comes in. Byzantium excels in the art of negotiation, an ancestral tradition that has saved it from many adventures. Using his hunting activities as an excuse, the Sultan asked Constantinople for permission to build a pavilion there. The emperor accepts but delimits its size: it will be on the surface of an ox skin. The sultan nods: a skin is cut into very thin strips and distributed, end to end, to delimit its space. The sultan is a winner in reality as in legend and Byzantium falls, without the fortress really being of any use whatsoever. We'll quickly turn it into a small prison afterward. The Knights of Malta will be the first to suffer the consequences. In time, it will be abandoned to its fate, even seeing a population settling there. Restored between 1953 and 1958, it was converted into a museum and concert hall. It has 17 towers and 5 doors. Ottoman and European cannons are on display in the fortress, which is now a garden, as well as pieces of the chain that closed the Golden Horn to shipping as part of the Byzantine defence system.

Because very few Lyon inhabitants know the true story of this tower, a must-visit in the landscape, Futé is proud to present it like a curiosity in this guide. This Lyon Eiffel Tower, making passing Parisians laugh, was opened to public on 3rd May, 1894. Its construction was decided by a group of craftsmen supported by the city, opposite to Fourvière, to... put the Basilica in a republican shade! Indeed, since its construction, Fourvière is not the highest point in Lyon anymore and it is this republican tower that dominates the city at an altitude of 372 m. Formerly, it hosted a restaurant and a belfry from where people could enjoy the view. The tower is sold in 1953 to the ORTF, in order to not demolish it. Since then inaccessible to the public, it supports now transmitters and continue on scoffing at Fourvière.

This gigantic, prestigious white marble building houses the Kyrgyz parliament and, on the 7th floor, the offices of the President of the Republic. The White House has been the scene of many changes of power since the Tulip Revolution; in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan remains the country with the most leaders since independence, with 5 elected presidents and 4 acting presidents.

Built in 1890 especially for the famous Orient-Express which linked Paris to Istanbul. It is the work of the German architect Jasmund, who has managed to reconcile the different architectures present in the city. The exterior walls in stone and brick are in Byzantine style; the windows are topped with horseshoe-shaped arches. Lines to European cities are still operating from Sirkeci station. It also has a typical café where nostalgic people can stop for a break.

This is a trophy that the 31 Greek cities reported on the temple of Apollo Pythium in Delphi after their victory over the Persians during the Battle of Platée in 479 B.C. This pointes, formed by the winding of three snakes, supported a large tripod and a gold vase. Constantine the Great reported it from Delphi to install it on the Hippodrome square, while the tripod and the vase had already been looted. Snakes, demonic symbols par excellence, rained neither the Byzantine nor Muslims afterwards, and were maimed several times. Mehmed the Conqueror himself broke the mouth of one of the snakes after the capture of Constantinople. But, according to legend, this episode was followed by an invasion of snakes in the capital and then made the decision to protect them. All heads have nevertheless disappeared over time. One fragment of one of them is exhibited at the Archaeological Museum.

It was built, about ten years before the arrival of the Bolsheviks, by Muhammad Rahim Khan, known as Ferouz. The marriage of oriental styles with the luxury of St. Petersburg is striking and testifies to the fascination exerted on the last khans by the sumptuous life of the tsars. The palace, entirely enclosed by walls, consists of a large garden in the north-west quarter, a vast reception hall, official lounges, the khan's apartments: in total, more than a hundred rooms, galleries in all directions, courtyards lined with iwan..

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 statue shows two soldiers in uniform in tribute to the fighters who died in Batken, in the south of the country, during an attempt to seize power in the city by militants of the Uzbek Islamist Movement. It reminds us of the dangers of radical Islamism, which is on the increase in Kyrgyzstan and especially in the Ferghana Valley, which is historically more traditionalist. The presence around Batken of Uzbek and Tajik enclaves facilitates the clandestine movements of radical fighters.

This spherical construction of glass and steel was designed by Renzo Piano. The transparent ball can be seen from the harbour and is located at the Aquarium exit. Inside, it is a recreation of a tropical forest, in all its beauty and fragility. There are several rare plant species, such as the giraffe acacia and the coffee and cocoa tree. But also an emblematic fauna: fish, insects, butterflies, birds, reptiles and amphibians. An exotic visit where nature and architecture evolve in total symbiosis.

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.

This is the oldest monument in Khiva. A mausoleum with dome and portal was built in the early 14th century around the tomb of Sufi sheik Said Alauddin who died in 1303. A ziatkhona, a small room through which one reaches the tomb, was added to it under Allah Kouli khan in the 19th century. The tomb covered with majolica with blue and white vegetal motifs is the work of Amir Kulal, a ceramist from Bukhara. Despite the presence of two graves, only one body lies in the tomb

This 40 000-seat stadium will host the racing and equestrian events of the modern pentathlon.

They will host the games tennis games. They were inaugurated by a test tournament in October 2007.

He will host handball matches.

Completely renovated for the occasion, he will host some of the football matches.

He will host the weightlifting tests.

He will host some of the volleyball games.

Located south of the fragrant Hills, this site will host the shooting tests (skeet). Field planning was completed in August 2007.

He will host the ATV tests.

She will host water polo and the swimming tests of the modern pentathlon.