Samarkand

Tamerlane's capital

Samarkand is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, with roots going back some 2,700 years to the settlement of Afrasiab on the hill at the edge of today's town. It was a Sogdian trading city long before the Silk Road had its name, was destroyed by the Mongols in the thirteenth century, and was reborn when Amir Timur made it his capital at the end of the fourteenth. What you come for — the domes, the portals, the blue tiles — is largely the work of Timur and his descendants, above all his grandson Ulugbek, astronomer and ruler.

How the city is laid out

Think of a line running from south-west to north-east. It starts at the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum, where Timur is buried, and runs to the Registan Square, framed by the Ulugbek Madrasah, the Sher-Dor Madrasah and the Tilla-Kori Madrasah. From there a pedestrian street leads to the Bibi-Khanym Mosque and the Siab Bazaar beside it, then on to the Shakhi-Zinda Necropolis, a lane of tiled mausoleums climbing the hillside. Legend says the cousin of the Prophet, Kusam ibn Abbas, never died here but lives on underground — the name means "the living king". Beyond lies the Ancient Settlement of Afrasiab with the Afrasiab Museum, and a little further the Ulugbek Observatory.

Two days is the right amount. On the first, your guide walks you along this line at an easy pace. On the second, we head out to the edges: the Meros Paper Mill (Konigil), where paper is still made from mulberry bark, the Hujum Silk Carpet Factory, or the Imam al-Bukhari Memorial Complex outside the city. A third day allows a trip to Shakhrisabz.

When to go and getting there

Spring and autumn are the best seasons; late April and May are also the busiest, so we start sightseeing early. Summer afternoons are hot, which is when the museums and workshops come in handy. The Afrosiyob train connects Samarkand with Tashkent in about two hours and with Bukhara in about an hour and a half, and the city also has its own airport. The main monuments are spread out over a few kilometres: you can walk the central section, while your driver covers the longer gaps.

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