Shakhrisabz

Shakhrisabz is where Timur was born and where, by his own account, he would have liked to be buried. The town sits in the Kashkadarya valley, south of Samarkand across the Zarafshan range, lower, greener and quieter than the capital he made famous. Its name means the green city, and in spring the orchards and poplars along the road explain it without help. Most travellers see it in a day from Samarkand. It is a good day.

The Ak-Saray palace was the largest thing Timur built, and only its entrance survives: two pylons of brick and tile, faced with mosaic in blue, white and gold, standing far apart from each other on an open lawn. The gap between them is the width of the gate they once framed. From here it is a short walk to the Dorut Tilovat complex, with the Kok Gumbaz mosque built by Ulugh Beg and the tomb of Timur’s spiritual teacher, and on to Dorus Saodat, where the underground crypt he prepared for himself lies a few steps from the mausoleum of his son Jahangir.

The road is part of the reason to go. From Samarkand it climbs over the Takhtakaracha pass, and on the far side the valley opens out below; the drive takes a morning each way, with stops at the roadside stalls and for the view. Your private guide walks with you through the old town, and the day is arranged so that there is time to sit in the shade of the Kok Gumbaz and do nothing in particular. Shakhrisabz is a day out from Samarkand on our Grand Journey across Uzbekistan and on Uzbekistan in Depth; ask your travel designer to add it to any route that passes through Samarkand.