Historic Centre of Bukhara
Historic Centre of Bukhara
Bukhara, which is situated on the Silk Route, is more than 2,000 years old. It is the most complete example of a medieval city in Central Asia, with an urban fabric that has remained largely intact. Monuments of particular interest include the famous tomb of Ismail Samani, a masterpiece of 10th-century Muslim architecture, and a large number of 17th-century madrasas.
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
The Historic Centre of Bukhara, situated on the Silk Roads, is more than two thousand years old. It is one of the best examples of well preserved Islamic cities of Central Asia of the 10th to 17th centuries, with an urban fabric that has remained largely intact.
Bukhara was long an important economic and cultural center in Central Asia. The ancient Persian city served as a major center of Islamic culture for many centuries and became a major cultural center of the Caliphate in the 8th century.
With the exception of a few important vestiges from before the Mongol invasions of Genghis Khan in 1220 and Temur in 1370, the old town bears witness to the urbanism and architecture of the Sheibani period of Uzbek rule, from the early 16th century onwards. The citadel, rebuilt in the 16th century, has marked the civic center of the town since its earliest days to the pres ent,
Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor
Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor
The Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor is a key section of the Silk Roads in Central Asia that connects other corridors from all directions. Located in rugged mountains, fertile river valleys, and uninhabitable desert, the 866-kilometre corridor runs from east to west along the Zarafshan River and further southwest following the ancient caravan roads crossing the Karakum Desert to the Merv Oasis. Channelling much of the east-west exchange along the Silk Roads from the 2nd century BCE to the 16th century CE, a large quantity of goods was traded along the corridor. People travelled, settled, conquered, or were defeated here, making it a melting pot of ethnicities, cultures, religions, sciences, and technologies.
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
The Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor is one of the key sections of the Silk Roads in Central Asia that connects other corridors from all directions. Comprising thirty-four component parts located in rugged mountains, fertile river valleys, and uninhabited desert, the 866-kilometre corridor runs from east to west along the Zarafshan River and further southwest following the ancient caravan roads crossing the Karakum Desert to the Merv Oasis.
Dotted along the corridor passing through varied geographical areas such as highland, piedmont, dry steppe, oases, fertile valleys, and arid-desert zones, the selected component parts reflect the complexity of landscapes and the adaption of societies to the control of the Silk Roads movement and trade. The variation in human responses between the fertile valleys and deltas, and the desert and river crossings, are clearly reflected in the selection of small towns, forts, and way stations; while the outcomes of the political and social capital generated by trading contacts are reflected in the range of commercial, elite, and religious buildings included in the nomination. It was the place where the Sogdians, some of the most international merchants in the world history, flourished. The control of these corridors was of vital significance to many of the great Silk Roads empires, such as the Sogdian, the Parthian, the Sassanian, the Timurid and the Seljuk, as they were fundamental to long-distance exchange along the Silk Road s.
