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Crafts
2 km away
Meros Paper Mill, Konigil
Workshop founded in 1996 by Zarif and Islom Mukhtorov that revived Samarkand's mulberry-bark paper, in Konigil village about 5 km from the Registan.
Chupan-Ata Hill and Shrine
The highest point of Samarkand, a hill on the north-east edge of the city with a 15th-century shrine on top and wide views over town.
Nature15th century (shrine)About 1 hour to see
About the place
Chupan-Ata rises about 100 metres above the city, near the Zarafshan river. A shrine from the 15th century stands on the summit. Legend tells that God dropped the hill on an army besieging Samarkand, and that people found an old shepherd asleep on it the next morning; he became revered as Chupan-Ata, "father shepherd", protector of herders.
Timur and Ulugh Beg laid out gardens and a country palace at its foot, and Ulugh Beg's observatory is nearby. On these slopes, on 1 May 1868, Russian troops defeated the army of the Bukhara emir, after which Samarkand passed to the Russian Empire.
Why go
- The best panorama of Samarkand
- A 15th-century shrine and a shepherd legend
- Close to Ulugh Beg's observatory
Sources (4)
Nearby
Archaeology2 km awayUNESCO 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.
Ensembles2 km away
Ulugh Beg Monument, Samarkand
A 2010 statue of the astronomer-ruler Ulugh Beg in front of the memorial museum at his observatory, set against a panel of the starry sky.
Mausoleums3 km awayUNESCO World Heritage
Tomb of Daniel (Khoja Doniyor)
A long, low mausoleum above the Siab stream, revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews as a resting place of the prophet Daniel.