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Citadel or kremlin that contained palaces, temples, barracks, offices, the mint, warehouses, workshops, stables, an arsenal; everything a ruler might want for his comfort, and for the misery of his captives. It's a heptagonal enclosure (said to be patterned on the constellation of Ursa Major) with earth brick walls up to 20 m tall. It was built and re-built for millennia, taking its present form under the Shaybhanid dynasty around 1500. You enter through the grand west gate and see the museum, throne room, royal courts and mosque. The eastern half has not been restored.
The Ark of Bukhara is a massive fortress located in the city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan, that was initially built and occupied around the 5th century AD. The Ark's current structure began to develop during the 16th century under the Shaybanid Uzbek dynasty, while all of its existing buildings were constructed in the last three centuries. In addition to being a military structure, the Ark encompassed what was essentially a town that, during much of the fortress's history, was inhabited by the various royal courts that held sway over the region surrounding Bukhara. The Ark was used as a fortress until it fell to the Soviet Union in 1920. Currently, the Ark is a tourist attraction and houses museums covering its history. The museums and other restored areas include an archaeological museum, the throne room, the reception and coronation court, a local history museum, and the court mosque.
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The mosque was built in 1712, with a free-standing minaret and painted wooden pillars added in 1917. In front is a small hauz.
The name means "double madrassah", the Modari Khan and the larger Abdullah Khan, built together in 1566. They look neglected.
The name means "spring of Ayub" - Job - who in legend struck the ground with his staff and out gushed a spring. Bukhara was one of several cities where he performed this feat and was subsequently buried; the oldest authenticated burial here was of Khwaja Hafiz Gunjari in 1022 AD. The entrance portal is from 1208, but the mausoleum is from 1380 in the reign of Timur, with a Khwarazm-style conical dome. The site was extended in the 15th century and has a small museum about the Sunni Islamic scholar Muhammad al-Bukhari (810-870), whose tomb is in Samarkand.
A complex similar to Lyab-i Hauz built in 1570, with a mosque, medressah and hauz. The name means "killing bulls" as the site used to be a cattle market and slaughter house. It's closed for restoration, though you can see the exterior.
The oldest surviving mosque building in Central Asia, dating back to the 800s, reconstructed in the 1500s and now a carpet museum. "Magoki" means a pit, and it was in a dip in the ground when built over a former Zoroastrian temple, and has sunk further. It's now 6 metres below ground level, and its domes barely reach the street. "Attar" means perfume as there once was a perfume market nearby. The 12th-century main facade is very impressive.
The Samanids were a Persian dynasty in power 819-945. In 892 Ismail Samani united its four petty kingdoms, broke from Abbasid influence, and moved the capital from Samarkand to Bukhara. He built this mausoleum for his father and lay here himself from 907. It's the oldest Muslim monument in Bukhara, with elements of Zoroastrian design such as the sun motif.