Samarkand
A well-signposted Old Town guesthouse, this good-value place is run by the family behind Bahodir B&B. The two-floor courtyard property has simple, clean rooms with tiny hot water bathrooms and crummy bedding, but the pleasant terrace enjoys great afternoon light and sunsets over the city skyline. English is spoken.
The family is building a third guesthouse nearby, due to open as a three-star hotel with six rooms in 2018.
0.47 MILES
This ensemble of majestic, tilting medressas – a near-overload of majolica, azure mosaics and vast, well-proportioned spaces – is the centrepiece of the…
0.95 MILES
The beautiful portal and trademark fluted azure dome of the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum marks the final resting place of Timur (Tamerlane), along with two sons…
0.49 MILES
Samarkand’s most moving and beloved site is this stunning avenue of mausoleums, which contains some of the richest tilework in the Muslim world. The name,…
0.41 MILES
The enormous congregational Bibi-Khanym Mosque, northeast of the Registan, was financed from the spoils of Timur's invasion of India and must have been…
0.48 MILES
On the northern side of the Registan is the Tilla-Kari (Gold-Covered) Medressa, completed in 1660, with a pleasant, gardenlike courtyard. The highlight…
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The Ulugbek Medressa, on the western side of the Registan, is the square's original medressa, finished in 1420 under Ulugbek who is said to have taught…
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The entrance portal of the Registan's Sher Dor (Lion) Medressa, opposite the Ulugbek Medressa and finished in 1636, is decorated with roaring felines that…
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The Afrosiab Museum was built around one of Samarkand’s more important archaeological finds, a chipped 7th-century fresco of the Sogdian King Varkhuman (r…
1. Mausoleum of Abu Mansur al-Moturudiy
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Deep in the lanes of the Old Town is the surprisingly impressive new Mausoleum of Abu Mansur al-Moturudiy. The entry fee is over the top; you can see it…
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This restored Old Town gem is 100m east of the Registan. If it's locked ask the caretaker to let you in for a glimpse at the lush ceiling tilework.
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This small neighbourhood mosque in the Old Jewish Quarter is part of a charming ensemble with a hauz (pool) and small minaret.
0.24 MILES
Hidden in the Old Town on unmarked Denau is this working 19th-century synagogue, built in 1891 for Samarkand's Jewish community. The atmospheric hall has…
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The gloriously faded Qoraboy Oqsoqol Mosque is hidden down an alley just off Abu Laiz Samarkandi ko'chasi in the old Jewish Quarter of the Old Town.
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Across from the Bibi-Khanym Mosque is Bibi-Khanym’s surprisingly plain 14th-century mausoleum, home to five tombs and some lovely interior painted…
0.41 MILES
The enormous congregational Bibi-Khanym Mosque, northeast of the Registan, was financed from the spoils of Timur's invasion of India and must have been…
0.44 MILES
The entrance portal of the Registan's Sher Dor (Lion) Medressa, opposite the Ulugbek Medressa and finished in 1636, is decorated with roaring felines that…