Mighty Monuments In Bukhara

The architectural hits just keep coming in Bukhara. Everywhere you turn, historic structures, the aura of the Silk Road ever present.

Small, packs a punch. Perhaps the most beautiful building in Bukhara, the Ismail Samani masoleum. It's the oldest Islamic structure in the city and its exterior is an intoxicating design of brick weaving in the Sogdian style. We're talking 10th century, if we're able to talk at all.

Inside, a simple brick tomb of a family member. The ceiling of the masoleum, not holding back.

Moving on, catching your breath. Here's the Chor Minor. It's not a mosque, instead, constructed as an entrance to a now gone madrasa. Note the fake stork's nest, placed to deter real storks from roosting.

Bukhara used to be a walled city with a series of imposing gates. Most of that system is gone, some gates now rebuilt. Like this one.

On the right, the Dustum Orgosi mosque. It's a good example of the small, neighborhood house style of mosque with carved wood columns. Yet to be restored.

The minaret, madrasa, and empty reservoir of the Khoja Gaukushan Ensemble.