Uzbekistan

The Silk Road

Samarkand must have been the most spectacular stop along the Silk Road. This is the Registan (Square) in the center of the city. This is impressive even by today's standards. Can you imagine what if looked like to someone in 1500, when virtually no building in Central Asia was over one story high?

The Road

The Silk Road is a series of interconnected trade routes between Europe and China.

Khiva

The ancient city of Khiva has been restored. It is quite something to see.

Knockers

This is a door in the Ark (fort) in Khiva.

Medressa

This is the Mir-i-Arab Medressa (school) in Bukhara. All education was religious at the time it was built.

Mosque

This is the Kalon Mosque and Minaret in Bukhara. The Kalon Minaret is 47 meters (150 feet) high and was the tallest building in Central Asia at the time it was built in 1127.

Tombs

These tombs in the Shahr-i-Sindah in Samarkand have been restored to their days of glory, that extend back over 500 years.

Tashkent

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and the major hub for everything in Central Asia. It has a population of 5,000,000 people, which makes it the fourth largest city in the former Soviet Union, after Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev. It looks like Los Angeles, but is a lot prettier. Most anything associated with the Silk Road has long been paved over by now, but there are still a few things to see.

Soviet Era Architecture

The Hotel Uzbekistan overlooks the main square of the city.