We started the day with a wine tasting at Hovrenko winery. Look at all of the glasses.
Ulugbek is remembered for his brilliant work in astronomy-related mathematics. During his rule the Timurid Empire achieved the cultural peak of its Renaissance through his attention and patronage.
His observatory in Samarkand was considered by scholars to have been one of the finest observatories in the Islamic world at the time and the largest in Central Asia. Ulugbek was not skilled in governing. Eventually he was overthrown and assassinated.
The observatory is now in ruins. Only one instrument remains. This large marble sextant, with a radius of 130 feet, was used to measure the elevation of the sun, moon and stars. A comprehensive star catalog was compiled which contained the positions of over 1,000 stars and remained a vital astronomical reference for centuries. Parts of it were translated into Latin and published in Oxford and London in the mid-17th century.
Today Elle made silk paper.
Shah-i-Zinda (meaning “The Living King”), a necropolis in Samarkand, is associated with the legend that a cousin of Muhammad, is buried here.
The mosaics are beautiful.
We traded dollars for local currency and got a stack of Uzbekistani Som instead.
In the afternoon we rode the train for 3 hours to Tashkent. The countryside varied from verdant farmland to barren desert.
Leave a Reply