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Zindan (Emir's prison)

The former prison of the emirate, behind the Ark, with a deep pit cell and a small museum about crime and punishment in old Bukhara.

MuseumsUNESCO World HeritageAbout 30 minutes to see

About the place

The zindan stands a short walk north-west of the Ark. Behind its crenellated walls are cells for different kinds of prisoners and the notorious pit, reached only by rope, into which the worst offenders were lowered. Among those held here were the British officers Charles Stoddart and Arthur Conolly, executed in 1842.

The rooms show chains, documents and figures of prisoners. It is a short and somewhat grim visit, but it adds a side of the emirate that the palaces do not show.

Sources (1)

  1. 1.Wikidata

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