Archaeology8 km awayUNESCO World Heritage
Varakhsha
Ruins of a pre-Islamic palace town on the edge of the desert west of Bukhara, once the seat of the local rulers; its wall paintings are now in museums.
Qizbibi Complex
A Sufi shrine 30 km west of Bukhara built around the grave of a 16th-century woman saint, with a mosque, cells, a bath and a retreat cell.
Mausoleums16th–18th centuriesAbout 30 minutes to see
About the place
The oldest part of the complex is the grave of Agha-yi Buzurg, a Sufi woman saint descended from the Prophet, who died in 1523 and is remembered locally as Qizbibi. Women have long come here to pray for healing.
Around two courtyards stand a domed gatehouse, a mosque-khanqah with a portico, cells for pilgrims, a kitchen, a bath, a well and an underground chillakhana for forty-day retreats. The buildings were added from the 16th century and the ensemble was finished by the 18th. It lies in Jondor district, about 30 km west of Bukhara.
Why go
- A shrine centred on a woman saint
- Underground retreat cell and pilgrims' rooms
- An easy half-day trip west of Bukhara
Sources (5)
Nearby
- Archaeology
Ensembles9 km away
Muhammad Baba Samasi Complex
Pilgrimage complex in Romitan district around the grave of Muhammad Baba Samasi (d. 1354), the fifth of the seven Sufi pirs of Bukhara.
- © OpenStreetMapEnsembles
12 km away
Khoja Ali Romitani Complex
The burial place of Khoja Ali Romitani (Hazrati Azizon), a weaver and fourth of the seven Sufi masters revered around Bukhara.
Ensembles17 km away
Chor Bakr Khanqah
The 16th-century Sufi lodge of the Chor Bakr necropolis west of Bukhara, built under Abdullah Khan II, with a tiled portal and a dated inscription.
