Northeast of the Ark and just behind it is the old Zindon (jail). Morbidly fascinating attractions include a torture chamber, shackles used on prisoners and several dungeons, including the gruesome fourth cell, the 6.5m deep kanakhona (bug pit), accessible only by rope, where Stoddart and Conolly languished for years in a dark chamber filled with lice, scorpions and other vermin. There are also some fabulous early-20th-century photographs of pre-Soviet Bukhara taken by Russian photographer Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.19 MILES
The spectacular-looking Ark, a royal town-within-a-town, is Bukhara’s oldest structure, occupied from the 5th century right up until 1920, when it was…
0.26 MILES
When it was built by the Karakhanid ruler Arslan Khan in 1127, the Kalon Minaret was probably the tallest building in Central Asia – kalon means…
0.79 MILES
Photogenic little Char Minar, in a maze of alleys between Pushkin and Hoja Nurabad, bears more relation to Indian styles than to anything Bukharan. This…
0.23 MILES
At the foot of the minaret, on the site of an earlier mosque destroyed by Chinggis Khan, is the 16th-century congregational Kalon Mosque, big enough for…
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0.48 MILES
Between the two covered bazaars, in what was the old herb-and-spice bazaar, is Central Asia’s oldest surviving mosque, the Maghoki-Attar, a lovely…
0.55 MILES
Lyabi-Hauz, a plaza built around a pool in 1620 (the name is Tajik for ‘around the pool’), is the most peaceful and interesting spot in town – shaded…
0.72 MILES
This mausoleum in Samani Park, completed in 905, is the town's oldest Muslim monument and one of its most architecturally interesting. Built for Ismail…
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0.75 MILES
This wealthy merchant's house, built in 1892, was once home to one of Bukhara’s many infamous personalities, the man who plotted with the Bolsheviks to…
Nearby Bukhara attractions
0.19 MILES
The spectacular-looking Ark, a royal town-within-a-town, is Bukhara’s oldest structure, occupied from the 5th century right up until 1920, when it was…
0.23 MILES
At the foot of the minaret, on the site of an earlier mosque destroyed by Chinggis Khan, is the 16th-century congregational Kalon Mosque, big enough for…
0.24 MILES
The working Miri Arab Madrasah, with its luminous blue domes, is among Uzbekistan’s most striking buildings, especially in later afternoon light. The…
0.26 MILES
Built in 1417, this is Central Asia’s oldest medressa, and may well be familiar to you as it became a model for many others. The blue-tiled medressa, one…
0.26 MILES
When it was built by the Karakhanid ruler Arslan Khan in 1127, the Kalon Minaret was probably the tallest building in Central Asia – kalon means…
0.3 MILES
The student rooms at the 16th-century Abdul Aziz Khan Medressa are occupied, rather typically, by souvenir shops. This is an unrestored gem, built by its…
0.32 MILES
In Bukhara's backstreets between Hoja Nurabad and Islamov, across from the Ark on Hoja Nurabad, the interior of the 16th-century Hoja Zayniddin Mosque has…
0.37 MILES
Beside a pool opposite the Ark’s gate is the functioning Bolo-Hauz Mosque (1718), the emirs’ official place of worship. The stunning painted wood and…