Samarkand

Samarkand is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia, a trading post on the ancient Silk Road where Chinese silk, Persian silver, and Indian spices passed through hands for two millennia before Tamerlane chose it as the capital of his Timurid empire in 1370. What he built in the forty years that followed has not been surpassed.

The Registan (three madrasahs arranged around a public square, each faced in intricate blue and gold tilework) is among the finest pieces of urban architecture in the world. The Shah-i-Zinda necropolis contains twenty mausoleums of the Timurid court, their ceramic façades as vivid as the day they were fired. The Bibi-Khanym Mosque, built to be the largest in the Islamic world, was completed in 1404 and partially collapsed by 1500: the central dome was too ambitious for 14th-century engineering, a fact that makes it more interesting rather than less.

Uzbekistan opened up to independent tourism after 2016, introducing visa-free entry for many nationalities, and the infrastructure has improved markedly. Samarkand now has boutique hotels in restored merchant houses, a fast train from Tashkent, and guides with genuine expertise. The crowds are a fraction of Istanbul's. The monuments are in the same league.

Beyond the Registan, the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum, with its fluted turquoise dome, holds the tomb of Tamerlane himself, marked by a single block of dark green jade. The interior, covered in gold leaf and blue tiles, is one of the most beautiful spaces in the city. The Ulugh Beg Observatory, built in the 1420s by Tamerlane's grandson, a gifted astronomer, preserves the remains of a giant sextant used to chart the stars with striking precision.

The Siab Bazaar, next to the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, is the city's main market, where piles of dried fruit, nuts, spices and round Samarkand bread are sold. The bread, baked in clay ovens, is famous across Uzbekistan and said to stay fresh for days. Plov, rice cooked with lamb, carrots and spices in a large cauldron, is the national dish, traditionally served at lunchtime.

Afrosiab, the site of the ancient city destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1220, lies on a plateau north of the centre. Its museum displays seventh-century murals showing a procession of ambassadors to the ruler of Samarkand, a rare glimpse of life on the Silk Road before the Mongol conquest.

The Registan is spectacular at any time, but it is at its best at sunrise, when the square is almost empty, and in the evening, when the madrasahs are lit and the tiles glow against the darkening sky. Some madrasahs have craft workshops and small shops in their former student cells.

The best times to visit are from April to June and September to October, when the weather is warm but not extreme. Summer is very hot, often above 40 degrees, and winter is cold, with occasional snow.

The Afrosiyob high-speed train connects Samarkand with Tashkent in around two hours, and continues to Bukhara. Tashkent has the country's main international airport, and Samarkand also has international flights. Cash is widely used, though card acceptance is improving in hotels and larger shops.

Samarkand needs at least two days, and it pairs naturally with Bukhara and Khiva for a journey through the great cities of the Silk Road. Dress modestly when visiting mosques and mausoleums, and remove your shoes where required.