Bukhara is one of the most ancient cities of Central Asia. According to the archeological data Bukhara is 2500 years old.
Scientists suppose that the name of Bukhara originates from the word "vikhara" which means 'cloister ' or "monastery" in Sanskrit. The city was once a large commercial center on the Great Silk Road. Since ancient times Bukhara played a very important role in the economical and cultural life of the region.
The city was destroyed and rebuilt many times. Hundreds of times it survived the periods of its prosperity and decline .
The periods of a particular economical and cultural rise of Bukhara were periods of reign of Samanids and Sheibanids.
The most ancient architectural masterpieces in Bukhara were constructed in the 9th-10th centuries. Such monuments as the Mausoleum of Ismail Samani( the 9th -10th c.c.), Kalyan Minaret( 12 th c.), Mosque Kalya, Madrassah Mir-i- Arab (16th c.) trading domes -covered bazaars (16thc) are the brilliant evidence of the high level of development of construction, different types of art, exact sciences- mathematics, geometry, physics in Bukhara in different periods.
In Bukhara there are more other different monuments, you can hardly enumerate all of them.The historians say that there were more than 300 mosques and near 200 madrassahs in the city.
Add here numerous minarets, caravan-sarais, trading domes and you will understand why Bukhara is called the museum of Islam architecture.
Modern Bukhara (nearly 300 thousand people is divided into the Old town and the New one.
Old part of the city is not only "the museum in the open air", people live there like thousands years ago. And this allows everybody to imagine better the rich history of the city.
The administrative buildings, schools, institutes, industrial enterprises are located in the new part of the city.
You can wander along the narrow streets of 2500 years old Bukhara and enjoy both the splendid structures with blue domes and small clay houses.
