Most discovery tours to Central Asia start in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Architecturally, Tashkent impresses with a mixture of monuments from the Middle Ages with an Islamic influence, from modernity with high-rise buildings from Chinese construction companies and the tradition of neoclassical Soviet architecture.
In the center of the city, in the Hast-Imam complex, different buildings are united in a narrow space: two mosques, two medreses, as the Koran schools are called, and a mausoleum. “Hast Imam” means “Great Imam” and is dedicated to one of the first and most revered Imams of Tashkent from the 10th century, who was instrumental in spreading Islam in the region. In the small Muji Mubarak madrasa in the center of the complex, particularly valuable Islamic books and writings are on display, including a seventh-century copy of Caliph Osman’s original Koran.
The full and colorful life in Tashkent takes place on the boulevard Sayilgoh, also called Broadway by the locals. The boulevard leads straight from Independence Square a few hundred meters to Amir Timur Square with a monumental equestrian statue.
Tashkent: Relaxed across Broadway
The famous ruler Amir Timur or Tamerlane created one of the largest empires in Central Asia that ever existed in the 14th century, with Samarkand as its capital. Since the end of the Soviet Union and the beginning of independence, Timur has reclaimed the cityscape, giving its name to parks, squares and avenues. Countless stalls, street musicians, small cafés and food stands line the pedestrian zone.
Those who travel into the country from Tashkent following the Silk Road can do so not only on well-developed roads, but also on the railways. During the high season, the comfortable Spanish high-speed train Afrosiab runs from the main train station in Tashkent to Bukhara and Samarkand in the mornings and evenings. With a top speed of 230 km/h, the train needs three hours and 40 minutes for the 600 km route to Bukhara – a very comfortable and inexpensive alternative to the plane.
Bukhara: The oasis that impressed Genghis Khan
The undeniable cultural highlights of any trip to Central Asia are the two World Heritage Sites of Bukhara and Samarkand.
The former oasis city of Bukhara celebrated its 2500th birthday in 1997. In the center of the old town is the landmark of Bukhara, the Kalon minaret from 1127. With its 47 meters high and 10 meters deep foundation, it towers over the entire mosque and medrese area.
The super minaret served as an observation post against enemy attacks, as a kind of lighthouse for the desert ships of the Silk Road and as a place of execution of death sentences by the emirs. The minaret is an architectural masterpiece and is decorated with 14 different decorative bands. Here, for the first time, the glazed turquoise-blue tiles are used in a band – the “necklace” of the minaret, so to speak, which were then later spread throughout Central Asia under the Timurids.
Genghis Khan was so impressed by the minaret when he conquered Bukhara in 1220 that he ordered the tower to be spared while his troops sacked the rest of the city. The Kalon complex also includes the large Kalon mosque built next to it, which can accommodate up to ten thousand worshipers, and the Mir-i-Arab madrasa opposite. The Koran school, which opened in the 16th century, still teaches with a short break. It was also the only Islamic educational institution on the soil of the former Soviet Union. Its building fronts, high portals and artistically decorated wooden gates are overwhelming.
Samarkand has existed for 2750 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world. It is a unique fairy tale, experienced half a dozen invaders and, despite being destroyed, has always risen more magnificently like a phoenix from the ashes.
Samarkand: The legendary Registan Square
A symbol of Samarkand and even more of a legend is Registan Square. It is the administrative, commercial and artisan center of the city, its heart, so to speak, and of indescribable beauty. The raging reporter Egon Erwin Kisch traveled to Central Asia in 1930 and wrote in his report “Asia Thoroughly Changed”: “No, we will not describe the Registan. Simply as an axiom, the sentence should be written that in no city do we know a place with such colorful, magnificent buildings as the Registan of Samarkand. Basta.”
One should not fail to visit the Registan at different times of the day. Especially his picture, when he adorns himself with the many colorful lights, will be remembered for a long time. One can then only agree with Egon Erwin Kisch: This fascinating view of a triumvirate of artistically decorated Koran schools, each with their minarets, domes, pompous front facades and entrance portals is unique.
The Tilla Kari Medrese placed at the front of the Registan surpasses its two neighbors in splendor and furnishings. It is the youngest and largest of the three medreses and has a dual function as a Koranic school and as the main mosque. “Tilla Kari” means “gilded” and it really takes your breath away when you enter the interior, which is completely decorated with blue and gilded ornaments.
The elaborate restoration of the madrasa took place in the 1970s. An architectural feature here is the domed structure. While the huge dome glows turquoise from afar from the outside, the inner dome is almost flat. The inwardly tapering decorations create the almost perfect optical illusion of looking into a high-vaulted dome from the inside as well.
The Ulugbek observatory, which the grandson of the ruler Tamerlane had built at the beginning of the 15th century, offers a different view of the Middle Ages and only the underground parts have survived. After his death, fanatical Islamists destroyed the observatory because, in their opinion, the science of astronomy violated the rules of the Koran.
Mirzo Ulugbek’s life was determined by mathematics and astronomy. Today, a museum is dedicated to his astronomical work, which is still highly valued to this day. Among other things, he calculated the length of the astronomical year as 365 days, 6 hours, 10 minutes and 8 seconds. As it turned out later, the measurement error was only 58 seconds – an amazing achievement considering the still primitive measuring devices. An asteroid and a crater on the moon bear the Uzbek’s name. In the 20th century, Russian archaeologists managed to excavate the channel of the old observatory that served as a sextant.
Target group: Western tourists
The historic city of Samarkand with its more than thousand-year-old cultural treasures has also arrived in the modern age. There are construction cranes everywhere and investments are being made in the tourist infrastructure. In 2020, construction of a Samarkand-style tourism-cultural center began. A total of eight hotels with 1600 rooms and 3600 beds and a congress center are being built here. The whole complex is expected to be completed this year.
Only a few months ago, a new airport in Samarkand called Silk Road started operations after a construction period of only 18 months. Initially, a capacity of two million passengers per year is planned. The most important target group is the tourist from Western Europe.
The builders are Turkish engineers, who also built the new airport in Istanbul in record time. They have given the new terminal an extraordinary architecture. It is constructed in the form of an open book and is intended to symbolize Ulugbek’s main work “The New Guragan Star Atlas”. In Samarkand, the Middle Ages and modern times can certainly shake hands.
Uzbekistan is above all the country of deserts and steppes. They cover about three quarters of the country’s territory. In a yurt camp you can experience the desert up close. The yurt camp Safari near the village of Khayat is one of just under a dozen such accommodations in Uzbekistan. It is located in the Kyzylkum Desert, a red gravel and sand desert that is among the largest deserts in Central Asia.
The camp consists of 20 yurts and has a solid building for taking meals and a house with sufficient toilets and sinks. No one has to be sent to the desert all around to use the toilet. Romance is more likely to be provided by a power cut, which requires some improvisation when preparing the food, and the photo motifs in the morning sun: sand hills and a dozen or so camels camped at the entrance to the camp. The desert ships are waiting for their customers for a ride – if no sandstorm intervenes.
Real hospitality and cordiality
Wherever you go as a tourist, whether in guest houses, in bazaars or simply in encounters on the street – you experience the touching hospitality and warmth of the residents. On a visit to a tourist center with a historic paper factory in Uzbekistan, I meet 91-year-old Uzbek Raymond.
In broken German he says that he is happy to receive German visitors. He was stationed in Neustrelitz as a soldier in the Soviet Army from 1964 to 1967. And then he rummages through his memories and finds the phrases “on time like the Germans” or “said, done”, which he regards as characteristic of Germans. He wishes friendship and more friendship. There is nothing to add.