Skip to content

Sardoba of Malik

A domed brick cistern across the road from Rabati Malik, built to store water for the caravanserai and for travellers crossing the steppe.

EnsemblesUNESCO World Heritage11th centuryAbout 15 minutes to see

About the place

A sardoba is a covered reservoir: a deep round tank sunk into the ground under a brick dome, filled by a channel from a canal or by seasonal water. The dome kept the water cool and clean and slowed evaporation in the summer heat. Sardobas were built along the caravan roads of Central Asia, and this is one of the best preserved.

Steps lead down inside to the water level, and the interior is noticeably cooler than the road outside. The cistern belongs to the same Silk Road group as Rabati Malik and is visited with it.

Sources (1)

  1. 1.Wikidata

Nearby

  • Rabati Malik CaravanseraiArchaeology

    Under 1 km awayUNESCO 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.

  • Deggaron MosqueEnsembles

    12 km awayUNESCO World Heritage

    Deggaron Mosque

    A rare 11th-century brick mosque in the village of Khazara, with a domed prayer hall carried on massive piers.

  • Mir Sayid Bakhrom MausoleumMausoleums

    18 km awayUNESCO World Heritage

    Mir Sayid Bakhrom Mausoleum

    A small early brick mausoleum in Karmana with a decorated portal and an inscription in Kufic script, from the period after the Samanids.