Samarkand ranks among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia, with evidence of settlement in the Zerafshan River valley stretching back more than two and a half millennia. Known in antiquity as Maracanda, it served as the capital of Sogdiana and was captured by Alexander the Great in 329 BC.

Over the following centuries it passed under successive Iranian, Turkic, and Arab rule, flourishing as a major Silk Road trading and craft center. In 1220 Genghis Khan’s Mongol armies destroyed much of the city.

After a period of recovery it rose to its greatest prominence when Timur, known in the West as Tamerlane, chose it as the capital of his vast empire in the late fourteenth century. Under the Timurid dynasty, especially during the reign of Timur’s grandson Ulugh Beg, Samarkand became a brilliant hub of architecture, science, and Islamic learning.

The city later declined, was absorbed into the Khanate of Bukhara, and stood largely deserted for decades in the eighteenth century ...

The railway network of Uzbekistan traces its roots to the late nineteenth century when the Russian Empire built the Trans-Caspian line across the region. During the Soviet period the system expanded into a dense network of broad-gauge tracks that linked industrial centers and agricultural zones.

After independence the country began modernizing its rails, focusing first on passenger comfort and then on speed. The breakthrough came in 2011 with the introduction of the Afrosiyob high-speed trains built by Spain’s Talgo.

These Spanish trainsets cut the Tashkent to Samarkand journey from more than four hours to roughly two hours and soon extended service to Bukhara. In 2026 Uzbekistan Railways added a new generation of Korean-built trains that pushed the high-speed corridor farther west to Khiva, completing a continuous modern spine across the heart of the country.

The route from Bukhara to Samarkand follows the upgraded high-speed line that runs roughly two hundred twenty kilometers across the open ...

Chor Minor (also called the Madrasah of Khalif Niyaz-kul) is a distinctive early 19th century gatehouse in Bukhara’s historic center, Uzbekistan.

Built in 1807 by the wealthy Turkmen merchant and imam Khalif Niyaz-kul under the Manghit dynasty, it once formed the ornate entrance to a larger madrasa complex that has largely disappeared.

The compact brick structure is crowned by a central dome and four corner towers topped with turquoise ceramic domes; the towers are decorative rather than true minarets and give the building its Persian name meaning “four minarets.” Its unusual design, possibly inspired by India’s Charminar, stands apart from conventional Bukharan architecture.

One tower collapsed in 1995 and was later restored with UNESCO support. Today it remains a protected part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bukhara’s Historic Center.

Chor Minor Madrasah: Bukhara’s Hidden Four Tower Gem & UNESCO World Heritage Site - Uzbekistan 2026