Description

(Tashkent , Samarkand)

Day 1

Arrive to Tashkent. Transfer to hotel for overnight.

Day 2

After early morning breakfast, drive to train station to get to Samarkand by new fast train Afrosiyob.

Visits in Samarkand:

• Gur Emir (Tomb of the emir) – mausoleum of Timur and the Timurids (15 c.)
• Reghistan Square (Sandy Place) – ensemble of majestic madrassahs (15-17 cc.)
• Bibi Khanym Mosque (15 c.) – the gigantic congregational mosque, once one of the Islamic world’s biggest mosque
• Siab Market – colorful main farmers’ market

PM Visits:

• Shakhi Zinda (The Living King) – necropolis of Samarkand rulers and nobles. The name refers to its original, innermost, and holiest shrine – the grave of Qusam ibn-Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, who is said brought Islam to this area.
• Ulugbek Observatory (1420) – the remains of an immense (30 m tall) astrolabe for observing star positions, part of a three-storey observatory, and Afrasiab ruins and museum with fragments of 7th-century frescoes.

Overnight at hotel.

Day 3

Drive back to Tashkent. Upon arrival, if time permits:

Tashkent Old City & Historical Sites:

• Kukeldash Madrassah – built in the mid-16th century by the ruler’s vizier Kukaldash, the madrassah was the biggest among 17 madrassahs in Tashkent.
• Friday Mosque (Khodja Akhrar, 1404-1490) – three renewed domes next to Kukeldash Madrassah, Chief Sheikh of the powerful Sufic order of Naqshbandi.
• Mausoleum of Zaynutdun Bobo – oldest architectural Islamic monument in Tashkent. Sheikh Zaynutdin was a son of famous Muslim philosopher and poet Shikhabuddin as-Sukhravardi, direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammed.
• Khast Imam Square – the holy heart of Tashkent and the least Russified/Sovietized part of the city, consisting of:
  • Barak Khan Madrassah – founded in the 16th century by a descendant of Tamerlane who ruled Tashkent for the Shaybanid dynasty. Administrative center of the Mufti of Uzbekistan.
  • Tillya Sheykh Mosque – built at the same time as Barak Khan Madrassah, now employed as the district’s Friday Mosque. Highlight: immense Osman Koran, claimed to be the world’s oldest; in 655 it was stained with the blood of the murdered Caliph Osman.
  • Kafal Shashi Mausoleum – grave of a local doctor, philosopher, and poet of Islam (904–979). The portal, inner dome, and arcade date from the 16th century.
• Chorsu Bazaar – the biggest, spice-smelling farmers’ bazaar in Tashkent.

Transfer to airport for departure flight.

Top Attractions:

• Registan Square
• Osman Koran in Tillya Sheykh Mosque