museum
Ulugh Beg Observatory
The excavated arc of a giant 15th-century sextant, sunk in a trench in the hillside, with which Timur's astronomer grandson measured the year to within a minute.
4 km · about 10 min drive
AsiaUzbekistanSamarqand Region
Samarkand
Samarqand Region, Uzbekistan · Asia
About Samarkand
Samarkand is worth a stop: 25 minutes from Jomboy Shahri, 46km from Sarazm.
Samarkand is in Samarqand Region, Uzbekistan, with about 600,000 people. The nearest town is Jomboy Shahri, about 12 km away.
Samarkand is a major city located in southeastern Uzbekistan. Among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia, it has a population of 882,000 inhabitants as of 2026, making it the second-largest city in Uzbekistan after Tashkent. It is the capital of the Samarkand Region and a district-level city, thatRead more
includes the urban-type settlements of Kimyogarlar, Farkhod and Khishrav. Earlier it also served as the initial capital of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic from 1925 until 1930.
There is evidence of human activity in the area of the city dating from the late Paleolithic. Though the exact date of founding of Samarkand remains uncertain, it has been proposed that it was established between the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Historically, Samarkand has long been one of the principal urban centers of Iranic civilization in Central Asia and played a major role in the cultural and commercial networks of the Silk Road. By the time of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, it was the capital of the satrapy of Sogdiana. The city was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BC; at that time it was known as Markanda. Islam got introduced to the region in the 8th century AD following the Umayyad campaigns. It was one of the principal cities in the Samanid Empire, under which New Persian gradually replaced Sogdian as the dominant language of the region. In the late 10th century it became a part of the Turkic Karakhanid Khanate. Thereafter Samarkand was ruled by Turkic or Turko-Mongol dynasties until the Russian annexation in the 19th century, even though the city's culture and literary language remained Persian.
Samarkand prospered from its location on the Silk Road between China, Persia and Europe. At times it was one of the largest cities in Central Asia. The city was conquered by the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan in 1220, which saw widespread destruction. In the 14th century, Timur made it the capital of Timurid Empire, and Samarkand became a noted centre of Islamic scholarly study and the birthplace of the Timurid Renaissance. The Timurid and the later Uzbek Khanate of Bukhara period made most important architectural contributions to the urban landscape of the city, including the Registan Square, the Gur-i Amir Mausoleum, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, and the Shah-i-Zinda Necropolis, which are now the iconic symbols of the city, well-known for their cobalt and turquoise majolica tilework. In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures.
Samarkand has a multicultural and plurilingual identity and history that was significantly modified by the process of national delimitation in Central Asia. Significant population of the city consists of the bilingual Tajik speakers, whereas Uzbek is the official language and Russian is also widely used in the public sphere, as per the language policy of Uzbekistan.
Modern Samarkand is divided into two parts: the old city, which includes historical monuments, shops, and old private houses; and the new city, which was developed during the days of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union and includes administrative buildings along with cultural centres and educational institutions. On 15 and 16 September 2022, the city hosted the 2022 SCO summit.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is there to see near Samarkand?
Within an hour or so of Samarkand: Ulugh Beg Observatory (4 km), Sarazm (46 km).
Where is Samarkand?
Samarkand is in Samarqand Region, Uzbekistan, about 12 km from Jomboy Shahri.
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Quick Information
- Population
- 595,200
- Continent
- Asia
- Country
- Uzbekistan
- Region
- Samarqand Region
- Timezone
- Asia/Samarkand
- Coordinates
- 39.6546, 66.9644
Tags
Worth the detour from Samarkand
2 notable places within an hour's drive.
ancient ruins
Sarazm
A 5,500-year-old proto-urban settlement excavated on the Zarafshan plain, with mudbrick temple and palace foundations under shelters. Tajikistan's oldest UNESCO site and rarely visited.
46 km · about 55 min drive
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