FortressesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Ark of Bukhara
The walled citadel on a raised mound at the west end of the old town, home to Bukhara's rulers until 1920 and now a set of small museums.
Places to see
Monuments, bazaars and landscapes across the country, with what each one is and how to visit it.
1–24 of 101
Bukhara Region
- Fortresses
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Po-i-Kalyan ensemble
The square at the centre of old Bukhara: the Kalyan Minaret of 1127, the large Kalyan Mosque and the working Mir-i-Arab madrasa facing it.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Lyabi-Hauz
A stone-lined pool from the early 17th century, shaded by old mulberry trees and framed by two madrasas and a khanaka; the social heart of the old town.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasa
The madrasa on the east side of Lyabi-Hauz, known for the mosaic on its portal: two large birds and a sun with a human face.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Kukeldash Madrasa
A large 16th-century madrasa on the north side of Lyabi-Hauz, built for Kulbaba Kukeldash, a senior official of the Shaybanid court.
MausoleumsBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Samanid Mausoleum
A small cube of baked brick from the 10th century, the family tomb of the Samanid rulers and one of the oldest Islamic buildings in Central Asia.
MausoleumsBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Chashma-Ayub Mausoleum
A shrine built over a spring that legend links with the prophet Job, with an unusual conical dome; inside is a small museum about water in Bukhara.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Bolo Hauz Mosque
The emir's Friday mosque opposite the Ark, best known for its tall porch of slender carved wooden columns reflected in a small pool.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Chor Minor
A small gatehouse with four turquoise-domed towers, hidden in the lanes east of Lyabi-Hauz; all that remains of an early 19th-century madrasa.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Ulugbek Madrasa
Built in 1417 by Ulugbek, Timur's grandson; the oldest surviving madrasa in Bukhara, facing the later Abdulaziz Khan madrasa across a narrow square.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Abdulaziz Khan Madrasa
A mid-17th-century madrasa opposite Ulugbek's, with rich, colourful tilework that includes plant motifs, vases and birds.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Magoki-Attari Mosque
A mosque sunk several metres below today's street level, with a carved 12th-century facade; it now holds a small carpet museum.
BazaarsBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Toki Sarrafon
The trading dome of the money changers, closest to Lyabi-Hauz; one of four 16th-century covered markets still used by traders.
BazaarsBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Toki Telpak Furushon
The hat sellers' dome, set over a junction of several streets between the other two domes; today a market for textiles, caps and books.
BazaarsBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Toki Zargaron
The jewellers' dome, the largest and northernmost of the trading domes, a few steps from the Ulugbek and Abdulaziz Khan madrasas.
BazaarsBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Tim of Abdullah Khan
A covered trading hall from the 1570s between the domes, once used by silk and wool traders, now home to carpet and textile sellers.
EnsemblesBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Khoja Gaukushon Ensemble
A 16th-century madrasa, mosque and minaret on a quiet square south of the trading domes, named after the cattle market that once stood here.
MuseumsBukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Zindan (Emir's prison)
The former prison of the emirate, behind the Ark, with a deep pit cell and a small museum about crime and punishment in old Bukhara.
EnsemblesKasri Orifon, east of BukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Bahouddin Naqshband Complex
The burial place of Bahouddin Naqshband, founder of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, east of Bukhara; one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in Uzbekistan.
MausoleumsSumitan, west of BukharaUNESCO World Heritage
Chor-Bakr Necropolis
A walled "town of the dead" west of Bukhara where the Juybari sheikhs buried their family, with a mosque, khanaka and madrasa from the 16th century.
ArchaeologyBukhara Region, west of BukharaUNESCO 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.
ArchaeologyKarakul districtUNESCO World Heritage
Paikend
The excavated site of a walled merchant city south-west of Bukhara that thrived on caravan trade for many centuries; a small site museum explains the finds.
EnsemblesVobkentUNESCO World Heritage
Vobkent Minaret
A tall late 12th-century brick minaret in the town of Vobkent, north of Bukhara, built in the same tradition as the Kalyan Minaret.
MuseumsBukhara (northern outskirts)
Sitorai Mohi Khosa Palace
The summer palace of the last emirs of Bukhara, on the northern edge of the city, mixing European and local styles; now a museum of applied arts.