EnsemblesShahrisabzUNESCO World Heritage
Ak-Saray Palace
The remains of Amir Timur's summer palace in his home town: two huge fragments of the entrance arch, still covered in blue, white and gold tilework.
Places to see
Monuments, bazaars and landscapes across the country, with what each one is and how to visit it.
1–29 of 601
Must-see places
- Ensembles
FortressesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Ark of Bukhara
The walled citadel on a raised mound at the west end of the old town, home to Bukhara's rulers until 1920 and now a set of small museums.
EnsemblesKhivaUNESCO World Heritage
Itchan Kala
The walled inner town of Khiva, where madrasas, mosques, minarets and khans' palaces stand close together along narrow lanes.
ArchaeologyMalik steppe, Navbahor districtUNESCO World Heritage
Rabati Malik Caravanserai
The surviving portal and outer walls of an 11th-century royal caravanserai on the old road between Bukhara and Samarkand, on the edge of the steppe.
EnsemblesSamarkandUNESCO World Heritage
Registan
The central square of old Samarkand, framed on three sides by the Ulugh Beg, Sher-Dor and Tilla-Kari madrasas.
All places
Places
EnsemblesShahrisabzUNESCO World Heritage
Dorut Tilavat Complex
A quiet religious quarter in Shahrisabz with Ulugbek's Kok Gumbaz mosque, the tomb of the Sufi teacher Shamsiddin Kulol and the Gumbazi Seyidan mausoleum.
MausoleumsSamarkandUNESCO World Heritage
Gur-e-Amir
The ribbed blue dome over the tomb of Amir Timur and members of his family, including his grandson Ulugh Beg.
FortressesKhivaUNESCO World Heritage
Itchan Kala walls and gates
Thick mud-brick walls with rounded towers that ring the inner town of Khiva, entered through four gates facing the four directions.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Po-i-Kalyan ensemble
The square at the centre of old Bukhara: the Kalyan Minaret of 1127, the large Kalyan Mosque and the working Mir-i-Arab madrasa facing it.
EnsemblesMalik steppe, Navbahor districtUNESCO World Heritage
Sardoba of Malik
A domed brick cistern across the road from Rabati Malik, built to store water for the caravanserai and for travellers crossing the steppe.
MausoleumsShahrisabzUNESCO World Heritage
Dorus Saodat Complex
The family burial ground Timur planned for himself and his sons; today the tall mausoleum of his eldest son Jahangir is its main surviving building.
EnsemblesKhivaUNESCO World Heritage
Kalta Minor
A broad, unfinished minaret covered from base to top in turquoise and blue glazed tiles, standing near the West Gate of Itchan Kala.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Lyabi-Hauz
A stone-lined pool from the early 17th century, shaded by old mulberry trees and framed by two madrasas and a khanaka; the social heart of the old town.
MausoleumsKarmanaUNESCO World Heritage
Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum
A small early brick mausoleum in Karmana with a decorated portal and an inscription in Kufic script, from the period after the Samanids.
EnsemblesSamarkandUNESCO World Heritage
Shah-i-Zinda
A narrow lane of mausoleums climbing the edge of Afrasiyab hill, with some of the finest glazed tilework of the Timurid era.
EnsemblesSamarkandUNESCO World Heritage
Bibi-Khanym Mosque
The great Friday mosque that Timur built after his campaign in India, with a vast entrance portal and blue domes beside Siab Bazaar.
FortressesKhivaUNESCO World Heritage
Kunya-Ark
The khans' citadel inside Itchan Kala, with a tiled summer mosque, a reception hall, a former mint and a watchtower over the old town.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasa
The madrasa on the east side of Lyabi-Hauz, known for the mosaic on its portal: two large birds and a sun with a human face.
EnsemblesKarmanaUNESCO World Heritage
Qosim Sheikh Complex
A 16th-century khanaka and burial ground in Karmana, built around the grave of the Sufi sheikh Qosim, who was close to the Shaybanid court.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Kukeldash Madrasa
A large 16th-century madrasa on the north side of Lyabi-Hauz, built for Kulbaba Kukeldash, a senior official of the Shaybanid court.
EnsemblesKhivaUNESCO World Heritage
Juma Mosque
A low, flat-roofed Friday mosque whose single hall is held up by a forest of carved wooden columns, some much older than the building itself.
BazaarsSamarkandUNESCO World Heritage
Siab Bazaar
Samarkand's main food market, next to Bibi-Khanym, known for its round stamped bread, dried fruit, nuts and spices.
NatureBostanliq districtUNESCO World Heritage
Ugam-Chatkal National Park
A large mountain national park in the north-east of the region, covering the Ugam, Pskem and Chatkal ranges, with walnut forests, rivers and alpine meadows.
NatureBostanliq and Parkent districtsUNESCO World Heritage
Chatkal Biosphere Reserve
A strict nature reserve on the slopes of the Chatkal range, protecting mountain forests and wildlife; part of the Western Tien-Shan World Heritage property.
EnsemblesKhivaUNESCO World Heritage
Islam Khodja Minaret and Madrasa
The tallest minaret in Khiva, banded in turquoise and white, beside a small madrasa that now holds a museum of applied arts.
MausoleumsBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Samanid Mausoleum
A small cube of baked brick from the 10th century, the family tomb of the Samanid rulers and one of the oldest Islamic buildings in Central Asia.
ArchaeologySamarkandUNESCO World Heritage
Ulugh Beg Observatory
The remains of the fifteenth-century observatory where Ulugh Beg and his scholars compiled a star catalogue, with a small museum beside it.
ArchaeologySamarkandUNESCO World Heritage
Afrasiyab
The grassy hills north of the modern city that cover ancient Samarkand, inhabited for well over a thousand years before the Mongol conquest.
MausoleumsBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Chashma-Ayub Mausoleum
A shrine built over a spring that legend links with the prophet Job, with an unusual conical dome; inside is a small museum about water in Bukhara.