Visit Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum in Samarkand; know why Amir Timur was buried here and the history behind the Timurid dynasty, and appreciate the architecture of one of Uzbekistan’s greatest monuments. Gur-e-Amir (mausoleum of the 14th-century Turko-Mongol conqueror Amir Timur) After exploring Samarkand’s mosques, madrassas, and public squares, I visited Gur-e-Amir, the mausoleum of the 14th-century Turko-Mongol conqueror Amir Timur. Unlike the Registan Ensemble, the mausoleum does

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