Culture & History
Suzani: Uzbekistan's Embroidered Textiles
Regional styles, what the motifs mean, how to tell hand embroidery from machine work, and why an old piece and a new one differ so much in price.
85 guides · page 7
Culture & History
The people, crafts, faith and history behind what you'll see on the ground.
Culture & History
Paykend: The Ancient Merchant City near Bukhara
A Sogdian trading town abandoned when the river moved, 60 km from Bukhara: what the excavations found, what is left to see, and how to get there.
Culture & History
Emir's Palace in Kagan (Kogon): History and Access
The emir of Bukhara's 1890s palace in Kagan, built beside the railway for a tsar who never came: its architect, current restoration and how to get there.
Culture & History
Gijduvan Ceramics: The Narzullaev Workshop
Brown, green and yellow glazes from a town outside Bukhara, made by one family for six generations. What to look for, what it costs, and how to visit.
Culture & History
Sarmishsay Petroglyphs
Thousands of rock carvings in a gorge near Navoi, some of them 10,000 years old: what you see, how to find them, and whether the detour is worth it.
Culture & History
Termez's Buddhist Sites: Fayaz Tepe and Kara Tepe
Uzbekistan had Buddhist monasteries for centuries before it had mosques. What survives at Fayaz Tepe, Kara Tepe and the Zurmala stupa, and how to see it.
Culture & History
Imam al-Bukhari Memorial Complex
The burial place of the scholar who compiled the Sahih al-Bukhari, 25 km from Samarkand: what the complex is, how to get there, and what to wear.
Culture & History
The Savitsky Museum: Nukus's Hidden Avant-Garde
How a collection of banned Soviet art ended up in a desert town in Karakalpakstan, what is actually on the walls, and how to plan a visit to Nukus around it.
Culture & History
Magoki-Attori: Bukhara's Oldest Mosque
The mosque in the pit: five metres below modern Bukhara, on a site that was a bazaar and a temple before it was a mosque, and a carpet museum today.
Culture & History
Afrasiyab: Samarkand's Ancient City and Museum
The Samarkand that existed before Timur: the Afrasiyab mounds, the 7th-century Ambassadors' Painting, what the museum holds and how to visit the site.