CENTRAL ASIA

Central Asia

Las madrasas y mausoleos de Samarcanda, Bujará y Jiva, los azulejos azules del Imperio timúrida y la hospitalidad de la estepa.

Foto: Bernard Gagnon · CC0
Uzbek plov

GastronomíaSamarkand, Uzbekistan

Uzbek plov

Lamb, carrots and rice cooked in a giant pot that can feed a thousand people on a wedding morning.

Red sandstone canyons

ClásicoAlmaty Region, Kazakhstan

Charyn Canyon, Kazakhstan

A desert 'Valley of Castles' at the foot of the Tian Shan, a maze of red sandstone canyons.

The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi

ClásicoTurkistan, Kazakhstan

Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, Turkistan, Kazakhstan

The 'second Mecca' of Central Asian Muslims, a Sufi saint's mausoleum ordered by Timur.

Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar

ClásicoMary Region, Turkmenistan

Ancient Merv, Turkmenistan

A Silk Road oasis once called 'Mother of the World', with ruins four thousand years old.

The 'Door to Hell' burning at night

ClásicoKarakum Desert, Turkmenistan

The 'Door to Hell' at Darvaza, Turkmenistan

A crater of fire that has burned in the Karakum Desert for more than half a century.

The mud-brick walls of Itchan Kala

ClásicoKhiva, Uzbekistan

Itchan Kala, Khiva

An open-air museum on the Silk Road, Central Asia's best-preserved walled medieval city.

The entrance and towers of the Ark

ClásicoBukhara, Uzbekistan

The Ark of Bukhara

The thousand-year-old palace of the Emirs of Bukhara, imperial memories within rammed-earth walls.

The Kalyan Minaret and mosque

ClásicoBukhara, Uzbekistan

Po-i-Kalyan complex, Bukhara

The skyline of holy Bukhara: the Kalyan Minaret of 1127.

Gur-e-Amir from outside

ClásicoSamarkand, Uzbekistan

Gur-e-Amir, Samarkand

Timur's resting place: an imperial mausoleum beneath a ribbed blue dome.

A long lane lined with blue-tiled mausoleums

ClásicoSamarkand, Uzbekistan

Shah-i-Zinda, Samarkand

The street of the 'Living King': a blue lane of royal tombs from the 11th to the 19th century.

Registan Square, framed by three madrasas

ClásicoSamarkand, Uzbekistan

Registan Square, Samarkand

The blue heart of the Timurid Empire: the centre of an ancient Central Asian city, framed by three madrasas.