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Bukhara - Culture |
Bukhara
is one of the most famous cities on the ancient Silk Road. With
buildings spanning 1000 years of history and a thoroughly lived-in city centre
that hasn't changed much in two centuries, Bukhara is one of the best places in
Central Asia to catch a glimpse of pre-Russian Turkestan.
The
old part of town offers an incredible number of sights. The first or last stop
of any visit should be the Lab-i-Hauz, a great place to relax, sit, drink tea
(or something stronger) and wait for the fountains to start again.
Seen
from the Lab-i-Hauz the Ark or Citadel is at the other end of town. Between
those two are magnificent Koranic schools, impressive mosques and a big tall
minaret with a history that will make you shiver.
The
central ensemble of Bukhara - Poi-Kalon Pillar seems to rule over the city. The
vertical forms of columns were made by the Islamic architecture not only to call
the people for pray, but as a symbol of a power of the spiritual rulers.
The Ismail Samani mausoleum is the oldest monument in Bukhara. It was built by Ismail Samani, one of the rulers of the Samanid dynasty. The grey-coloured ornamentation is never the same when light shines upon it. The mausoleum is considered to be the masterpiece of the medieval architecture.
“Blessed”, “Holy”, “Heavenly” Bukhara is the
only city in Central Asia where the flavour of the
East has been preserved intact. It is a town-museum with about 140 architectural
monuments dating back to the Middle Ages where culture, science and art have
flourished throughout the centuries. The Ismail Samani Mausoleum is a
masterpiece of classical Eastern architecture of 9-10th centuries. It was built
of light-golden colored bricks faced so skillfully that the ornament design
seems to alter several times during the day as the light changes. During the
sunset the walls of mausoleum appear like a weightless lace.
The Poi-Kalyan ensemble (12-16th c.) crowns the centre of ancient Bukhara. It is
50 meter-tall minaret, decorated with unique patterns that towers over the city
in all its grandeur and splendor. Light-blue domes of Chor-Minor and the Ark
Fortress can be seen afar. The ancient monuments preserved in Central Asia from
15th c. to this day are the Ulugbek and Kukeldash Madrassas.
Bukhara is homeland of legendary “humorous wise man” Khodja Nasreddin. It is
famous for old grafts, especially for golden embroidery and silk weaving.
One of the most popular trends of applied arts in Uzbekistan is embroidery . The several areas in Uzbekistan famous for their embroidery are Nuratin, Samarkand, Bukhara, Shakhrisabz, Surhandarya, Tashkent, Djizzak and Ferghana. Each school is distiguished by it's unique features such as ornamentation, composition, colour range and stitching. The traditional art of embroidery is still alive among the people of Uzbekistan. In Bukhara, Shakhrisabz and Tashkent embroidered cloths are mass produced in factories. Gold embroidery is the finest kind of embroidery. This craft has always and still is practised in Bukhara. One of the most ancient craft in Uzbekistan is weaving. Its richest historical traditions have remained with us to today. Cotton fabrics and silks were in demand everywhere throughout Central Asia. Uzbekistan's famous centres for cloth manufacturing are Samarkand, Bukhara, Kokand, Margilan and Namangan. Towns in the Ferghana Valley still operate as silk production centres. Secret for making these priceless cloth were known in these parts long before the Great Silk Route was established. The art of weaving still exist in the Ferghana Valley and, without a doubt, handcrafted cloth is still preferred to factory woven fabric. In addition to the silk factory in Margilan, there is also a new enterprise Edgorlic which has been established to revive the ancient methods of weaving varnished silk and semi-silk. The art of cloth printing almost disappeared completly. It was very popular in Samarkand and Bukhara in the past. Today it is actively developing in the town of Margilan.
Hand-made carpets in
Bukhara have achieved a very high quality status. They are worldwide famous and,
in some countries, such carpets are not described as made in Bukhara but,
simply, as Bukharas.
We thank Lyabi House Travel & Tourism for part
of the content
