The government of Uzbekistan has developed a number of tourist products for Russian Muslims, during which you can visit the tombs of great Muslim theologians. Special attention is paid to the residents of Tatarstan.

As Ilkhom Suvanov, head of the territorial department for tourism development in Samarkand region, informed RBC-Tatarstan, the President of Uzbekistan has attached each Uzbekistan region to a separate region of Russia to develop bilateral relations. Samarkand province is responsible for relations with Tatarstan.

«We are now organizing projects for Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia in the area of ziyarat-tourism, and we are going to develop this area with Tatarstan, because you have a lot of Muslims, and we have a lot of points-of-interest that may be interesting for them. For example, the complex of Imam Muhammad al-Bukhari, who during his lifetime collected more than 7,000 authentic hadith about the life of the Prophet» Suvanov said.

Uzbekistan annually welcomes more than 2m tourists, a quarter of whom go to Samarkand Province. Meanwhile, Russians account for only 2-3% of the total number of tourists. The largest share is taken by the French, Italians, Japanese, Koreans and tourists from the US. There are about 100 hotels in Samarkand with 5 thousand rooms. In general, the region is ready to welcome up to 1.5 million tourists per year. «Now funds have been allocated to develop a special tourist zone in Samarkand, where it is planned to build a number of new hotels and restaurants for tourists from Asia and Europe. About 20 hectares of land have been allotted for these purposes. Our task is to make sure that tourists receive the necessary level of service. To see all the sights of Samarkand, you need at least 4-5 days, as the city has about 1.5 thousand different architectural monuments», – explained Suvanov. He noted that Samarkand is mainly visited for 2-3 days. Most often, tourists come to Samarkand by high-speed train from Tashkent and see only the main sights – objects related to the life of one of the greatest commanders in history – Amir Timur, better known as Tamerlane.

Heart of the Empire

Amir Timur established an empire that included Central Asia, Turkey, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and the Caucasus. Tamerlan conducted more than 1,000 battles without a single defeat. It was no accident that he made Samarkand the capital of his empire. Samarkand, a key point on the Great Silk Road, has a unique climate because it is surrounded by mountains.

The mausoleum of Tamerlan, better known in Samarkand as Gur Emir, contains some relics from his palace, including the stone foot of the throne. There is also a ritual hollow stone in which Timur’s soldiers prepared drinks, most often pomegranate juice, and drank each one in a mug before the battle. The procedure was repeated after the battle and by the number of drinks the warlords knew exactly how many warriors had been vanished.

Coming to Samarkand, believers usually visit the mausoleum complex of Muhammad al-Bukhari. The author of the first collection of reliable hadith «Al-Jami al-Sahih», Imam al-Bukhari is also known for his canonical collection of Sunni tales.

Another pilgrimage site in Samarqand is the Shahi Zinda Mausoleum Complex, where the Tamerlane sisters are buried. The core of the ensemble is the Mausoleum of Kusam Ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet who also lived in Samarkand.

Being in the ancient city, it is impossible to bypass ancient Registan Square where masterpieces of medieval architecture are located: Ulugbek Madrassah, Sherdor Madrassah and Tilla Kori Madrassah. Not far from them is the Bibi Honim Mosque, which was built by Tamerlan as the largest mosque of that time.

Light from under the ground

If in Samarkand pilgrimage sites and ancient monuments are located on a large square, in ancient Bukhara they are located near the central city fortress, where emirs of Bukhara lived. Here is located the ancient architectural complex Poi Kalon, which includes one of the most ancient and majestic minarets of Central Asia. Nearby is the main educational institution of Bukhara – Mira Arab Madrassah, which is known throughout the world. Famous Muslim personalities from Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates studied in Mira Arab. Famous Russian religious personalities, including Talgat Tadjuddin, chairman of the Central Department of the Russian Duma, and Akhmad Kadyrov, the first president of Chechnya, learned the foundations of Islam here.

They say that light comes down from the sky to all cities and only in Bukhara it comes from under the ground, as there are many tombs of great figures of Islam. There is a place in an ancient city that is called a small Mecca. It is a memorial complex with the tomb of Bahouddin Naqshband, the founder of the Sufi order of Naqshbandiya. Because of the abundance of ancient tombs, Bukhara is also called the «Monastery of Saints». Ancient temples and mausoleums of Bukhara are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Officially Bukhara is about 2.5 thousand years old, but the exact date of foundation of the city has not been established yet. The cultural layer of the city goes deep by 20 meters.

Bukhara is unique in that the atmosphere of antiquity can be felt here to this day. There are still old block of houses with narrow streets and old houses in the city, each of which has wooden doors carved with incredible beauty. It is an ancient tradition of Bukharians to decorate houses with such doors.

As Botirjon Shahriyerov, deputy head of Bukhara Province, told RBC-Tatarstan, said, in 2017 Bukhara will welcome about 1m tourists, with a 20% increase in tourist traffic. «Now we plan to build a tourist center in Bukhara, which will be located in the new city. It is planned to build several hotel complexes, park zone with lake, restaurants, villas for VIP-guests. There will be an entertainment center and a night club. According to the project, it should be introduced in 2019,» Shakhriyerov said.

As responder of RBC-Tatarstan noted, nowadays Bukhara is mainly visited by tourists from Europe, Asian countries and the United States, who come on regular flights. «Flights through Moscow, Riga or Istanbul are selected for tourists. If a group is formed, we organize charter flights. If Russian tour operators will form tourist groups, we are ready to send charters from Bukhara to Kazan. We have such opportunities,» said Shakhriyerov.

Author: Alexey Ugarov

Learn more on RBC:
https://www.rbc.ru/tatarstan/freenews/5a093d609a794763edcff663