Uzbekistan: The Road to Samarkand

The 336-page tome explores the visual culture and colorful history that characterizes the Central Asian country. Uzbekistan’s rich and long history offers a fantastic tale, but as this book reveals, it exceeds even your wildest imagination. Behold some of the most beautiful things Uzbekistan has to offer!

One need only look at the mosques, madrassahs, domes and minarets to see the rich religious and cultural influences. The architecture and colors of the monuments offer living examples of the history and splendor of Central Asia.

Mausoleums have a turquoise finish or are covered with dark blue tiles with floral ornaments. Shah-i-Zinda is the only archaeological and architectural monument in Samarkand, which, including the cultural layers of Afrasiab, reflects the almost 25-century history of the city.

Sherdor, which sounds in translation - "having tigers", or "having lions", the spiritual school received thanks to the mosaic panel that decorated the tympanum of the main entrance. The pictorial image shows a hunting scene of a fabulous animal that looks like a tiger with a lion's mane.

The story depicted on the Central portal of the madrasa building later became the national emblem of Uzbekistan. It is a symbol of power. The artistic decoration of the madrasa building is made of a variety of materials — glazed bricks, mosaic tiles, ceramic majolica.

The Poi-Kalyan complex, which means “the foot of the great,” is located at the Kalyan minaret and includes three buildings: the Kalyan mosque, the Kalyan minaret and the Miri Arab madrasah.

The inner city of Khiva in Uzbekistan is surrounded by powerful walls.Built over the centuries, fortifications and palaces, mosques and madrassas, mausoleums and minarets, caravanserais, and baths turned Ichan-Kala into a unique monument city.

Ak-Saray translates as "White Palace".The contrast of gold, carved ceilings, elegant patterns, architectural delights, which is present in the decor of the premises, is a truly amazing reincarnation of the mausoleum.

The palace building was built in the traditions of Central Asian architecture with a high portal in the middle, decorated with a large entrance arch and four minarets.: two of them stand on both sides of the portal, two finish the facade from the south and north.

Such intricacy is not confined to the architecture. Everything crafted by Uzbek hands is finely detailed. To this day, the skilled craftsmen of Uzbekistan continue the time-tested traditions of weaving silk textile; pottery; jewelry; wood-carving; ganch; painting; embossing; carpet weaving; applying patterns on leather, lacquer and book miniatures; gold dyeing; embroidery (Bukhara, Fergana, Samarkand and Tashkent all have embroidery centers); and blacksmith work. The blacksmiths’ trade remains respected and prestigious in Uzbekistan, as they were once believed to have magical and healing powers.

Right: A Sheikh Mukhtar Ata Mosque. It is a quater mosque in the" inner city " of Khiva (Ichan-Kala)

Right: Celling at the State Museum of Applied Arts of Uzbekistan.

Men’s robe with hand embroidery, gold thread, jacquard velvet.

Left:In the Tashkent region, there are two types of large decorative embroidery of the suzane type – Palak (from the word "Falak", which means "sky vault") and gulkurpa. The entire surface of the Tashkent Palak embroidery is covered with solid embroidered symbols and dark red circles.
Right: Skullcap is a male and female headdress of the Turkic peoples. Each region has its own special style and color.

Musical instruments originating from Central Asia.

Right:Rustam Usmanov’s pottery.He is a master of the art of painting and various technologies of glazing.The master has a delicate taste – his products are marked by a special grace and classic completion of compositions.

Where could so much colorful inspiration come from, you might ask?

One need look no further than the unending beauty of nature

Colors that span the spectrum like a painter’s palette cover diverse landscapes on buildings.

Green mountains, turquoise-blue lakes, snow-white salt plains, rust-colored valleys and golden deserts are all sources of inspiration for the ever-present vibrant aesthetic.