Uzbekistan part 5 - Bokhara, day 1

[graculus]

And so, after an insanely long bus ride... we reached Bokhara, just in time to crash out and think again about doing anything touristy the next morning!

First stop the Ismail Samani mausoleum, built in the 10th century for the founder of the Samanid dynasty, the only restoration work it's needed in all that time is when the dome fell in after an earthquake last century:



Here's a closer shot that shows the intricacy of the brickwork - no tiles here, just a variety of different shaped bricks, turned different ways to make patterns:



Lots of stories about wishes being granted if people walk three times counter-clockwise around this mausoleum (the three times counter-clockwise thing seems to be the standard, by the way... it pops up again and again in folklore about getting your hearts desire).

Here's another tilework-free building, again a mausoleum this time dating from the 12th century:



Then we were off to the Bala Hauz mosque, complete with very dingy reflecting pool:



This particular mosque was built in 1712 and you can see the difference in decorating styles from those in Khiva, particularly in the use of colours rather than endless blues and greens:



Here's the pocket-sized minaret which until very recently was leaning at a precarious angle:



Tilework around the entrance:



This particular mosque is often closed to tourists but the caretaker not only let us in, he also recited some verses of the Koran for us and blessed our remaining journey.

Inside:




Meanwhile, outside on the street, folks are busy doing business - in this case, selling bread:



This particular bread is cooked in the tandoors like yesterday's photo and is great for a couple of hours and then rock-hard.

Right in the middle of town is the Ark Citadel, again all mud-brick - here's a shot of the walls:



There has been regular building on this site since about 500 AD but the current entrance dates from the 18th century:



And here's another shot of the walls, to give some idea of scale:



Inside it's pretty much various courtyards dominated by folks selling stuff, with the majority selling embroidered cloths of various sizes and designs:



Here, in the Ark, we managed to restrain ourselves because we knew we were off to have lunch with a family who make these kinds of things - the overall term for them is 'suzanne' and they're all done by hand, either silk thread on cotton or silk thread on silk.

Here's the raw materials, all dyed with natural ingredients, as is the material on which they're made - if you look at the picture above, the brownish material is dyed with black tea, for instance...



I'd already bought a nice example in Tashkent, with a design of pomegranates on it, but completely fell in love with a silk on silk example from here covered in hoopoes and vines. I'd also fallen for a bedspread sized one with the tree of life on it but decided that I needed both my kidneys... ;)

The difference in quality between these and the ones for sale in the previous picture has to be seen to be believed - the woman who explained the whole process to us is in her early 20's and is only just being considered a master of the trade, having studied with her mother and father since her early teens.

Here's the lady of the house and a couple of her current students:





More Bokhara to come! :)

Comments

[khek.livejournal.com]

I think the brickwork is even more spectacular than the tiles.

And I love all the embroidered cloths, but especially the patterns in the last picture. I can't believe how much work must go into each square inch.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

That first building, the mausoleum, was just amazing - the inside is done in the same kind of decoration and we were all just gawping at it. I wonder if it also had more of an impact because we'd been overdosed with tilework up to that point?

As for the embroidery, seeing things in progress gave much more of an idea of what's involved in actually making them (that red hanging is a couple of months work for a bunch of folks, for example, then stitched together), which is beneficial to the workers as it makes you far less inclined to haggle. ;)