City Guide - Samarkand

Located on one of the major trade routes to China and Europe the city prospered and attracted many people from the East and the West: Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Tamerlane, the Arab commander Kuteiba ibn Muslim and many others.

The first people came to the region almost 40 thousands years ago. By the invasion of Alexander the Great (in 329 BC), it had already been a cosmopolitan, a walled capital of the Sogdian Empire. Alexander the Great was very impressed by Samarkand. He claimed that he could have imagined everything about this place except for its fascinating beauty. The city grew very fast and during the 6-13 centuries it is said to be more populated that nowadays. But during that period many invasions took place almost every century. In the middle of the 13th century Genghis Khan captured the city. After another 150 years Tamerlane decided to make Samarkand his capital, and during next half of the century the city became economic and cultural center of Central Asia. Later it became an intellectual center as well. Since Uzbek Shaybanids had moved the capital to Bukhara in the 16th century, Samarkand went into decline. Many people left the city after a number of serious earthquakes. By the end of the next century the Emir of Bukhara attempted to repopulate it. But it were only Russians who managed to resuscitate after it was joined to the Russian Empire by the trans Caspian railway in 1888. In 1924 Samarkand was declared to be the capital of Uzbek SSR, but 6 years later the capital was moved to Tashkent.

Samarkand's culture was developed and mixed with the Iranian, Indian, Mongolian and partly western and Eastern cultures. The central square of ancient Samarkand - Reghistan, is surrounded on three sides with the magnificent buildings of Ulughbek, Shir-dor and Tilly-Akhari madrashas. Registan is the place where all radial streets meet. The ruler's decrees were proclaimed and the justice was done right there as well as busy trading. Excavations of the ancient monuments buried under the ground have helped to recover the site of an ancient town and restore the architectural monument to its former grandeur with the high quality ceramic arts and the harmony of arches with blue domes. The jade gravestone of the great ruler Tamerlane lies in the Gur-Emir Mausoleum of the Timurids. Its huge tiled domes can be seen from all parts of the town. Samarkand is a city full of legends. Everything here including the streets, ravines and water reservoirs have its own story. The medieval Samarkand is beautifully surrounded by mountains from all sides. Its impressive perfect forms and harmony of colors are being admired by thousands of people both strangers and locals. Nowadays Samarkand is also an industrial, scientific and cultural center of Uzbekistan.