ities of Uzbekistan

Samarkand

Samarkand – one of the most ancient cities of Uzbekistan and in the world was called Marakanda in the middle of the first millennium B.C., later it was called Afrosiab. Samarkand was a capital of Sogd, later on a centre of a great empire created by Tamerlan. The numerous monuments of Samarkand and its suburbs make a deep impression on its visitors by their beauty and splendour. Everyone who looks at these splendid buildings is charmed by the refined architectural forms, difficult design, mosaic, domes of blue tiles.

Bukhara

Bukhara – is one of the most ancient cities of Uzbekistan, its age is over 2500 years. It was a part of Sogd (one of the Central Asia's region) in the antiquity, where the urbanism was developed even in times of Alexander the Great. Not far from the city there was a village Varahsha, famous by its splendid murals, showing the scenes from the panthers' hunt. Fortress Ark is the centre of Bukhara, where governors and their people lived. There was a town "shahristan" behind its walls. It was surrounded by commercial-trade suburbs "rabad".  The Great Silk road ran across Bukhara. There were more than 60 caravan-serails, where the merchants from India, China, Iran and other countries settled.

Khiva and Khorezm

Khiva – in the antiquity Khorazmia, later famous as Khvarezmi – Khorezm was a big state in the west of Central Asia, not far from the Aral sea. Khorezm rebuffed such famous invaders as Alexander the Great and Kuteiba ibn-Muslim in 680. They attacked Khorezm, but couldn't subdue the state completely. Only the united armies of Genghis khan managed to win the state. In the 1589 Khiva became a centre of Khiva state, it was a little fortified town with a millennium's history. There is a legend, that a town appeared around the well Heyvak, its water was very delicious and it was dug by Sem's order, a son of biblical Noe. The well can be seen nowadays in Itchan Kala (inner town of Khiva). In IX-XII cc., except numerous Islamic schools, there were big scientific centres of astronomy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry etc. in Khorezm. The academy of sciences called "The town of wisdom" in Baghdad created by al-Mamun was governed by Muhammad al-Khorezmi, a native from Khorezm. His thorough works on mathematics, geography were well known in Europe even in the 9th century and didn't loose their significance till nowadays. The huge scientific legacy had been left by al-Beruni, Ogahi, Najmiddin Kubro and many others, whose names are connected to Khorezm.

Tashkent

Tashkent – is a capital of Uzbekistan. It was firstly inhabited about 1st millennium, but there was some notes pointing the city was invaded by the Arabians in the 8th century B.C. The city was captured by Genghis khan in the 13th century and it was only the 14th century when the Mongols lost Tashkent – empire of Timurids captured power. The city was governed by Timurids until the end of the 15th century.