10 Best Things to Do
Bukhara’s old city brings its major monuments into a walkable network of lanes, courtyards and covered markets. The Kalon minaret marks the skyline, while Lyabi-Hauz offers a pond-side pause between madrasas and small restaurants. Look beyond the blue tilework to the Samanid Mausoleum’s patterned brick and the painted interiors of former merchant houses. Outside the centre, the emir’s summer palace adds gardens and decorative rooms to a stay shaped by architecture, craft and regional cooking.
Poi-Kalon Ensemble
Old Bukhara, Uzbekistan
The Kalon minaret rises above a square framed by the great mosque and Miri-Arab Madrasah. Bands of patterned brick give the tower its detail, while the surrounding buildings bring glazed tilework and monumental gateways into view. Begin outside to understand how the ensemble fits together, then visit whichever areas are open. The contrast between the brick tower and blue decoration rewards close attention as much as the overall skyline.
The city’s defining skyline
Samanid Mausoleum
Samanid Park, Uzbekistan
This compact domed tomb makes its impression through brick rather than coloured tile. Its four sides use intricate patterns that change as sunlight moves across the walls, with small openings beneath the dome bringing light into the interior. Walk around the building instead of approaching it as a single façade. It offers a useful contrast to Bukhara’s larger madrasas and a close look at the ingenuity of the city’s early builders.
Early Islamic brickwork
Lyabi-Hauz Ensemble
Old Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Lyabi-Hauz brings Bukhara’s public life and monumental buildings together around a pond. Kukeldash Madrasah, the Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasah and its neighbouring khanaka frame the area, while cafés make it an easy place to stop between walks. Look closely at the gateways before settling down with tea. The square works especially well as an introduction to the old city, with the Nasriddin statue adding a lighter note to the architecture.
Historic architecture around the pond
Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa
Northern outskirts of Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa shows a different side of Bukhara from the brick mosques and madrasas of the centre. The summer palace combines local craftsmanship with European influences, including mirrored interiors and elaborate plaster decoration. Its applied arts displays add context to the rooms and the objects once used around them. Allow time to look at the decorative details rather than treating the palace as a quick photograph stop on the way elsewhere.
The last emir’s summer palace
Bukhara’s Trading Domes
Old Bukhara, Uzbekistan
The covered trading halls are a good place to see how commerce shaped Bukhara’s architecture. Tim Abdullah Khan, a sixteenth-century enclosed market, offers a particularly clear contrast with the open streets outside. Browse carpets, instruments and decorative crafts, looking carefully at materials and workmanship before buying. The buildings themselves deserve attention too: their domes and shaded interiors make this an architectural walk as well as a chance to find something to take home.
Craft shopping in historic market halls
Davlat Toshev’s Miniature Painting Studio
Arabon Street, Old Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Davlat Toshev’s studio connects miniature painting with the patient work of calligraphy and manuscript restoration. His Ustoz-shogird school passes these skills to a younger generation, making a visit about the process as well as the finished pictures. Arrange a visit to discuss the materials and techniques, and allow time to examine small details closely. This is a rewarding counterpoint to the city’s monuments for travellers interested in the craftsmanship still practised around them.
Living miniature painting traditions
Ark Citadel
Old Bukhara, Uzbekistan
The Ark’s massive walls make the former seat of Bukhara’s rulers impossible to overlook. Its long history includes royal residences, government offices and repeated rebuilding, so a guided visit helps separate the different periods rather than treating everything as equally ancient. Start by studying the gateway and the scale of the fortifications. The citadel adds a political dimension to an itinerary otherwise dominated by religious buildings and the old trading streets.
Bukhara’s seat of power
Bolo-Hauz Mosque
Registan area, Old Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Across from the Ark, Bolo-Hauz is distinguished by a tall wooden porch, slender carved columns and an elaborately painted ceiling. The pond in front provides the familiar reflected view, but looking upwards from beneath the porch reveals far more of the craftsmanship. This is a rewarding stop for anyone interested in how Bukhara’s builders worked with timber as well as brick. Visit respectfully, allowing worshippers to use the mosque without interruption.
Carved columns and painted ceilings
Chor Minor
Old Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Chor Minor’s four turquoise-topped towers make it one of Bukhara’s most recognisable small monuments. Built for a merchant’s madrasa in the nineteenth century, it has a very different scale and character from the monumental ensembles around the Kalon minaret. The towers belong to the gateway rather than four conventional mosque minarets. Look at their differing decorative details and give the surrounding streets a little time as part of the walk.
An unusual four-towered gateway
Ulugbek and Abdulaziz Khan Madrasas
Old Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Facing one another in the old city, these madrasas make a useful pair to explore together. Ulugbek’s dates from the fifteenth century; Abdulaziz Khan’s followed in the seventeenth, with a more elaborate decorative treatment. Compare the gateways, coloured surfaces and courtyard layouts instead of rushing between them. Seeing the two buildings side by side gives a clearer sense of changes in Bukhara’s architecture than visiting either without its neighbour.
Two contrasting madrasas