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TheWanderingCamel Says: Unusually, Shakhrisabz's Dorus Siadat - Seat of Power and Might - although built by Temur as a burial place for first one, then another, of his sons who predeceased him, shows little sign of the restoration that has been so evident at other buildings of this period of Uzbek...
Respect and Consideration ....
TheWanderingCamel Says: ...are the virtues extolled in the name of the Dorut Tilovat madressah, built beside the Kok Gumbaz Mosque.Two mausolea, each topped with a small blue dome, and a reconstructed row of student cells are all that remain of the once huge medressah that stood here. The first was...
TheWanderingCamel Says: All that remains of the huge summer palace Ak-Serai - the White Palace- that Temur built here in Shahrisabz are the remnants of two massive towers that flanked the entrance. That this was once the greatest of all his palaces is attested to by contemporary writings. It took...
TheWanderingCamel Says: The Koba medressah is worth checking out both for its architectural history and its modern usage.The medresah was built in the 15th century in the traditional format of a central courtyard surrounded by khudjras (cells) for the students along each side of the square and...
TheWanderingCamel Says: ....to buy a fat pig.Well, I doubt very much that you'll find the pig of the old nursery rhyme in Shahrisabz's bazaar but you'll find just about everything else you can possibly think of is for sale here if you come on the right day.The first time we visited Shahrisabz it...
TheWanderingCamel Says: It's a pleasant walk of about 2 kilometre from Temur's palace to the Kok Gumbaz Mosque and the nearby Dorus Siadad ensemble, a short walk but one that takes you on a stroll through the town's long history. Once known as Lenin Street, the road has been renamed Ipak Yoli -...
TheWanderingCamel Says: Built by Temur's grandson, Ulug Beg, in 1435-6, Sharisabz's Kok Gumbaz mosque (kok - blue gumaz-dome) great dome has been restored to its former azure glory along with the portal and arch leading into it. The tiling here mimics the astral themes of the tiles on the Ulugh Beg...
TheWanderingCamel Says: A few years ago, eating in a private house was the best way to ensure getting an appetising meal in Uzbekistan as restaurants were oftenof a very dubious quality. That has changed in the main cities and you will find really nice restaurants quite easily, Small towns like...
Dilmurod: Shakhrisabz restaurant
TheWanderingCamel Says: No surprises on the menu here at Dilmurod's house restaurant, the usual Uzbek fare of plov, salads, shashlyk and non, but the service was pleasant, the beer cold, the room cool and the toilets very clean - and that's about as much as you would or could expect from a simple...
The high road or the low road?
TheWanderingCamel Says: There are two roads from Samarkand to Shahrisabz. The short one takes you across the Takhtakaracha Pass (1676 metres). Unfortunately, it's off-limits for tour buses these days so we had to take the low road - a longer journey that takes you away from the farms surrounding...
nepalgoods Says: From Samarkand to Sharisabz is a short road (80km) crossing the mountains of Saraschan, following the Big Silkroad. This road cannot be used by busses and bigger cars. So most poeple take a detour driving around the mountains, This road is about 175km long. It crosses the...
Needlwork sellers all over town: Street-side souvenirs
TheWanderingCamel Says: Embroidery is The craft in Shahrisabz and there are stalls selling embroidered pieces at all the main sights of the town. Whether they have set their goods up along the wall by the Ak Serai Palace, in the courtyard of the Kok Gumraz mosque or wherever they think a passing...
Koba medressah: How could I resist ....
TheWanderingCamel Says: ....buying a doll that was virtually a portrait of the girl in the shop? I'm not a doll collector but this one was irresistable. Handmade, with a papier-mache head and a wired poseable body, she comes from a long tradition of doll and puppet making that was suppressed, as...
TheWanderingCamel Says: Temur, Timur, Tamerlane - what ever name he is known by, was a colossus of history, known and feared by what, in his time, was truly half the world. His gigantic figure strides across Uzbekistan's history, almost as much today as in his lifetime as the present government has...
TheWanderingCamel Says: October is "wedding season" in Uzbekistan - the harvest is over, there's time to celebrate - and celebrate they do. Three days or more of ceremony and celebration are the norm, wealthy families may take a week.Of all the ceremonies of family life Nikokh - marriage - is the...
Helpfulness
I saw on the streets of Shakhrisabz some drink sellers that sold water and other drinks in recycled bottles. They had like a kind of tap from where they filled used bottles. But it's quite obvious, it's difficult to trick you.
Written Aug 15, 2007
Helpfulness
And up it was - a long flight of steps up from the road to the farmhouse on the hill above us. We'd stopped there just after turning off the main Samarkand to Bukhara road as we headed for Shahrisabz. At the top we found not only the farmhouse and, as everywhere in this most hospitable of countries, a welcome pot of tea, but a weaving workshop where the farmer's wife and daughters were making homespun woollen floor mats, quite different from anything we had seen anywhere else.
Working on narrow looms, one on the ground outside, a vertical one inside, the mats are woven in long lengths which are then cut, joined and bound at the ends to make the mats. Some were brightly coloured, others - more appealing to my eye - were made of undyed wools, soft browns, creams and greys combining with natural "black" wool. Some were reversable. They were very attractive and, needless to say, several sales were made.
But it wasn't just about selling to the tourists. We watched the girls as they spun and wove the wool, admired the little boy's new shoes, a couple of us made our way back down the stairs to the field below where more of the family were gathering corn and shepherding the sheep to new pasture. The views of the valley were lovely, the farmyard with its tandoor oven, chickens and garden was interesting, the sun was warm as we sat and drank our tea.
It's a successful small enterprise they have going there. It makes a good stop on the long (3 hour) drive to Shahrisabz, new loos at the bottom of the stairs make it a comfort stop and I'm sure lots of the tour buses that come that way know to stop there, though if you're only on a day trip and must be back in Samarkand by nightfall there probably isn't time for as long a stop as we had.
Updated Nov 14, 2010
TheWanderingCamel Says: Twice now we've been to Shahrisabz, and each time we have had the loveliest guides - both middle-aged women, both history teachers and both utterly engaging in their warmth and enthusiasm for their town. It was the first whose promise of autumn melons and balmy days was so...
nepalgoods Says: Timur was born in 1336 in a place near today's Sharisabz. At that time Sharisabz was called Kesh. His father was the Khan of a nomadic tribe of Centralasia with Mongolian origins. Timur very soon became a military leader. He and his men conquered Centralasia, destroying many...
nepalgoods Says: Sharisabz is located on a very important North-South trading route, already founded in 3rd century b.c. Under the name of Kesh it was the capital of Timur, who build many monumental and beautiful builings to make his city very impressive. Visitors, who came to Kesh from afar...
Most people come to Shahrisabz on a day tour from Samarkand. That's what we did the first time we were here, in 2005. We found a charming provincial city, sitting at the foothills of the Zerafshan...
SHAKHRISABZ, TIMUR'S GREEN TOWN
Shahrisabz (green town in tajik) is a little town 90kms south of Samarqand. It's important because it was Timur's birthplace and he built here his palace and other important constructions. Although......
Shahrisabz is a pleasant small town, dominated by the ruins of a big palace, which Timur has build. It can easily be visited on the way from Bukhara to Samarkand.
Build your own Shahrisabz page
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