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It houses a Museum of Religious and National Tolerance, as well as an art gallery. The building was constructed in 1882. During the Soviet era, the large bell tower and domes on the roof of the church were destroyed by communists and atheists. A small airplane was placed in place of the bell tower, and the building was used for various purposes, such as housing the paramilitary organization DOSAAF. After the collapse of the USSR, the church was no longer suitable for worship due to its destroyed bell tower, and was therefore turned into a museum. This is one of the 3-4 inactive former churches in Samarkand.
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It is one of the city's three active Orthodox churches, and the largest one (there are others which are inactive), subordinate to the Samarkand Deanery of the Tashkent and Uzbekistan Diocese (Central Asian Metropolitan District) of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Named after Metropolitan Alexei of Moscow, who lived in the 14th century, the church was built in 1912 in the Russian Revival architecture style, originally for a military garrison. Orthodoxy is the main Christian denomination in Samarkand. Most of the local Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Georgians, some of the local Koreans, and other small ethnic groups (for example, Greeks, Latvians, and Moldovans) that arrived during the Imperial and Soviet periods are Orthodox.
The place's only Armenian Church, built in 1903 by local Armenian residents with the permission of the Russian Imperial authorities. Samarkand is home to the second-largest Armenian diaspora in Uzbekistan, after Tashkent. Armenians have been living in Central Asia since the late 14th century, and their population increased during the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the USSR, most of the local Armenians remained in independent Uzbekistan and obtained local citizenship, while a small number of them moved to Armenia, Russia, Europe, and the United States. Local Armenians belong to the category of so-called Eastern Armenians. In Samarkand, they have shashlik (barbecue) bars where you can try pork shashlik, as well as local homemade wine and cognac.
The city's only Catholic Church. It was built in 1916 in the neo-Gothic style by Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war brought here by the Russian Empire during World War I. Most of the priests in this church are Polish. In Samarkand, Catholics include local Poles, local Ukrainians with roots in Western Ukraine, and expats from Catholic countries. The church is part of the Apostolic Administration of Uzbekistan, which is subordinate to the Vatican. Services are held in Russian and English.
A large Chinese-style square, named after Confucius, with characteristic gazebos, an entrance arch in the appropriate style, and Chinese and East Asian elements.
If for personal experience you want to see a performance in the Uzbek language, then in the center of Samarkand on the Theater Square, not far from the Ruhabad Mausoleum there is the main theater of Samarkand. The theater building was built in Soviet times, and somewhat resembles the building of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, but only without sculptures on the roof of the portal. In addition to performances in Uzbek, there are also performances in Russian and Tajik.
The second active local synagogue, built in the late 19th century and being rebuilt as of 2026 to include a mikvah, a Jewish Center, and classrooms.