UNESCO 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.
A pilgrimage site in Nurata around a spring and pool full of fish, with a domed mosque, at the foot of the hill with the old fortress.
The town's name is linked with nur, "light", and local tradition tells of a light that struck the ground here and released the spring. The water feeds a stone-edged pool in which large fish swim; they are considered sacred and are never caught. Around the pool stand a mosque with a wide dome, a bathhouse building and other structures built up over several centuries.
Pilgrims come from across Uzbekistan, especially at weekends and on holidays, to drink the water and walk around the complex. For visitors it is a calm place to watch local life, and the walk up to the fortress ruins on the hill above gives a view over the town and the mountains.
UNESCO World Heritage
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.
UNESCO World Heritage
A domed brick cistern across the road from Rabati Malik, built to store water for the caravanserai and for travellers crossing the steppe.
UNESCO World Heritage
A small early brick mausoleum in Karmana with a decorated portal and an inscription in Kufic script, from the period after the Samanids.
UNESCO World Heritage
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.