Pages

Monday, July 26, 2010

Samarkand


Today let me take you to another city on the ancient Silk Road. A beautiful and a rich one. Actually, on those days it was on the central position between China and Mediterranean. It was the capital city of mighty Tamerlane. It was the the city where another great conquer Alexander the Great fell in love with a slave woman. The mother of his one and only child. He named this place Marakan. It was the city where Marco Polo walked on her streets with curious eyes.


The main center of the city is Registan square. Three beautiful madrasahs (schools) are the jewels of this square. As it is the case everywhere in uzbekistan, inside of these old schools are full of small shops wher you could find lovely hand made products..


As it was the capital of Tamerlane, he had built large palaces, mosques and his tomb in this city. But as he was an impatient ruler, he wanted all the buildings to be completed at his lifetime. Unfortunately as speed is more important than duration, most of the those buildings started to collapse soon. Here is the Bibi Hanim mosque completed in an incredible period of 1,5 years with the golds Tamerland brought back from India. Bibi Hanim was the Chinese wife of Tamerlane..



Another fascinating place in the city was its necropolis - Shah-i Zinde..Most of the tombs belong to the women's of the Tamerlane family. Later the city cemetary developed around this historical area. A fascinating place where they have painted the face of the death to blues and turquoises..








But as always my favorite place was where I could find the living. No better place than the market to find them...









18 comments:

  1. Wonderful photos of a very different world.
    I learned so much from your snippets of history too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wonderful pics. The marketplace is surely where life pulsates. Interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What fabulous photos of amazing places! The blues are so very beautiful whether in the oceans or the architecture. And, of course, the beautiful people of the land that can be found in the marketplace. Thank you so much for sharing these!

    ReplyDelete
  4. WOW! Your photos just put me in the BEST of moods!
    That's a spectacular, indeed!
    Thanks for this awesome pictorial tour, dear.
    You look great...and my fave shots are.. that one with the girl with the garlics and the last one!
    Bravo!!
    B xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cherries look delicious the whole world over! Thanks for sharing your amazing travel photos!

    ReplyDelete
  6. What beautiful architecture. And yes, those cherries do look good.
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  7. Such a clean, beautiful city...no litter! The mosaics are amazing...the blues and the designs are a feast of eastern design. Love to know about the lives of the people in the market.....

    ReplyDelete
  8. Those buildings are huge! When I see those I always wonder how many years, what kind of tools, how many men etc. needed.
    Cherries yummy and garlic I'd buy one kilo right away!
    Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful as ever, and showing all that industry too ! LOVE my visits here

    ReplyDelete
  10. can i please join you on your adventures?
    that looks sooo gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Merhaba Aysegul! This is an excellent post. Great photos. Just look on the top of the right side of my blog Travelling

    ReplyDelete
  12. hey, one more thing, i've got an award for you, your blog inspires me to reach for the stars and acomplish my dreams of traveling! come and get it if you would like (give me like 15 minutes to get it posted) :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow, those photos are simply breathtaking. I found your blog through C'est La vie and I love it. I am your newest follower. I hope you'll visit me and follow me too!

    ReplyDelete
  14. You have a very good blog, with interesting images.
    Congratulations, and best regards from Barcelona.

    ReplyDelete
  15. merhaba
    çakıltaşlarım datça dan
    bende datçadayım :))

    ReplyDelete
  16. wow! that beautiful shocking blue mosaic would make a gorgeous blog header! how fortunate you are to visit such wonderful places and see such colorful creations of long ago artisans!

    ReplyDelete
  17. gorgeous photos aysegul. what an amazing place
    ~laura

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great pictures, so exceptional place to visit, I am impressed, Greetings!

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin