A day in Samarkand

Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Morning - The Registan square

Cool morning light sits on the blue tile and the pale stone of the square. I cross the open ground between three tall madrasahs. This public square is Samarkand's civic heart, and it rose after the city left ancient Afrosiab.

Morning - Shah-i-Zinda tiled avenue

Soft shadows fall from turquoise and cobalt domes along the narrow tiled way. I follow the slope between the tombs. This necropolis grew around a shrine to a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, and the tilework dates from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Morning - A quiet tiled courtyard

Dust motes hang in the sunbeams that strike the geometric patterns on these walls. I pause in the quiet courtyard and study the tile. Shah-i-Zinda holds some of the finest fourteenth- and fifteenth-century tilework in the whole Islamic world.

Midday - Shah-i-Zinda stairway

Bright midday sun falls hard on the stone steps, with the old necropolis spread below. I climb the stairway and look down over the tombs. Shah-i-Zinda is an avenue of mausoleums on a gentle slope around the sacred shrine.

Midday - Khazrat-Khizr wooden veranda

Noon heat sits on the stone while light glares off the domes and the newer roofs below me. I look out from this wooden pillared veranda. Khazrat-Khizr, a historic mosque on a ridge, was rebuilt through centuries after earlier invasions.

Golden Hour - Bibi-Khanym courtyard

Golden light lies warm on the turquoise domes and the fine tile. I cross the grand courtyard of the mosque. Bibi-Khanym was commissioned at the close of the fourteenth century after a campaign in India, by the ruler's principal wife.

Golden Hour - The courtyard Quran stand

The stone of the great book stand is cool under my hand in the late sun. I stop beside it in the middle of the courtyard. The mosque's huge portals still stand, though the work was rushed and parts failed over the centuries.

Night - Terrace facing Afrosiab

Cooler air moves across the low wooden table while the hills of Afrosiab grow dim. I sit and look out over those dusty mounds. Afrosiab marks the original Samarkand, and its artifacts are kept in the museum beside the site.

Night - Candlelit terrace table

Steam and spice rise from the plov as I lift a wooden spoon. I eat from a ceramic plate on the candlelit terrace. Plov is the national dish: rice slow-cooked in a cauldron with meat, yellow carrots, onions and spices.

Night - Terrace over Samarkand

Night air cools my face while Bibi-Khanym glows against the dark sky. I look out over the lit roofs of the old city. March and November offer the most comfortable daytime temperatures for these sites; July is the hottest month, near 44°C.