Samanid Mausoleum

The tomb is linked with Ismail Samani, who made Bukhara the capital of a state that stretched across much of Central Asia and Iran at the end of the 9th century. It is a simple shape, a cube under a dome, but every surface is built up from bricks laid in different directions, so the walls look woven. The pattern changes as the sun moves around the building.

For centuries the mausoleum lay half buried in an old cemetery, which helped it survive the Mongol conquest. It was cleared by archaeologists in the 1930s. Today it stands in a city park west of the Ark, a short walk from the Chashma-Ayub mausoleum and the Bolo Hauz mosque.