Page 37 - Seniorstoday May 2024 Issue

by him to Samarkand, which he made
his capital.” One-eyed and with crippled
limbs, Tamerlane is believed by some
historians to have wanted to beautify his
surroundings as he was not a handsome
man, refusing to ever look in a mirror;
while others say it was simply his way of
venerating God.
Inside Gur e Mir
Registan Square at Night
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #59 | MAY 2024
Tamerlane’s tomb, Gur e Mir
Bukhara
“In ruins, there’s a story waiting to be told.”
Bukhara, a maze of a city-museum, more
than 2,000 years old, is a city filled with
ancient religious architecture and a well
preserved historic centre, where the visitor
time travels through centuries of wonders.
It was Central Asia’s cultural and religious
heart. Poets, philosophers and scientists,
including Firdausi, Ibn Sina were nurtured
by its glories. Architecturally, it is one of
the country’s best-preserved cities with
the majority of buildings dating from the
10th century. Every stone has a story to
tell. Marco Polo’s father and uncle lived
here for a couple of years before moving to
the court of Kublai Khan. Omar Khayyam
travelled to Bukhara, where he frequented
the renowned library of the Ark, as had
Avicenna earlier - his medical research
and books were used in medieval Europe
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