The historic town of Samarkand is a crossroad and melting pot of the world's cultures. Founded in the 7th century B.C. as ancient Afrasiab, Samarkand had its most significant development in the ...

Atop a small hill, just north of Samarkand, Uzbekistan ... Temur took him to see the ruins of the 13th-century Maragha Observatory, built by the Mongols in what is now Iran.

Not only is Uzbekistan home to three cities — Bukhara, Khiva, and Samarkand ... century western region, which owes its distinctive European style to Russian rulers. Between the eighth and 13th ...