Throughout my travels in Uzbekistan, I noticed meticulously maintained cemeteries. Families visit their loved ones’ graves and tend them, read the Quran, and introduce younger generations to those who came before them. The practice of remembering the dead was most evident at Shah-i-Zinda, Samarkand’s necropolis, where local families still pray in the centuries-old mausoleums. (Necropolis, in Greek, means 'city of the dead’, in archaeology, an extensive and elaborate burial pl

Discover Rishton, Uzbekistan’s best-known pottery town, where more than 2000-year-old pottery-making, especially blue-glazed ceramics made with traditional ishkor glaze, continues to shape everyday life. After weeks exploring Uzbekistan’s Silk Road cities—Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva—we travelled east into the Fergana Valley, in particular the town Rishton, where people have been making pottery for more than 2000 years. Excavations at Sohibi Hidoya Archaeological Site (an an

Registan Square, an ensemble of three monumental madrasas, reveals the evolution of Islamic architecture, Timurid patronage, and the architectural history that shaped Samarkand over two centuries. Registan Square at night: Lights and shadows emphasize the depth and symmetry of the entrance portal Certain monuments become familiar long before we see them in person—Registan is one such. I had seen photographs of the square countless times over the years, yet nothing had prepare