Always one of the important stops on The Great Silk Road along the branch that lead down south to the shores of the Sea, Shakhrisabsz is today a favorite one or two day trip destination from Samarkand or a detour on the way to or from Bukhara. Situated in a fertile plain, with the Gissar mountains as a spectacular backdrop, Shakhrisabsz looks back onto over one thousand years of history.

Shakhrisabszs means Green City and indeed, as you look down from the pass over the plains, green and lush are words that spring to mind. Driving towards Shakhrisabsz orchards, fertile fields and vineyards flit by your car window.

The architectural landmarks of Shakhrisabsz are at least 500 years old with the famous Ak Saray Palace and the Jahangir Mausoleum built in the late XIV and early XV centuries. Among the most important historical monuments are the Shamsiddin Kilab Mazar, the Kok Gumbaz Grand Mosque, the Gumbazi Saidan Mausoleum. They all date back to Timurid times.

The local bazaar and the city's ancient bath house, both from the XV century are also stop overs on the grand tour. Shakhrisabsz is a traditional center of folk art and  is renowned for its distinctive embroidery style, a very complex flat stitch that covers the base fabric entirely. The embroidering ladies from Shakhrisabszs and their purses and pillows are famous not only throughout Uzbekistan, where they are a fixture at every craft fair; their embroidered waist coats are proudly worn in places as far as Canada and Japan. The imposing Ak Saray, the White Palace was Tamerlaine's most favorite and ambitious undertaking. As Clavijo, the Spanish envoy to Samarkand, reported back home, it was a colossal structure with a pool on its roof, an unbelievable 40 meters above the ground. Water was fed into the pool through lead pipelines from the foot hills in the north and south. A view point terrace on the top of the entrance portal provides a breath-taking panorama over the wider Shakhrisabsz area.

Kok Gumbaz Mosque and Doru Tilovat
The mosque was built by Ulug Bek near the original mausoleums of Sheikh Shamsuddin Kulal, teacher and spiritual mentor of Timur, and Timur's father Amir Taragay. The tombstone of the Sheikh is said to have curative effects and it is decorated with opulent marble ornaments.
The Blue Dome mosque was designed as a Friday Mosque and, like almost everything Ulug Bek commissioned, the shape of the inner dome was executed with such incredible geometrical accuracy and a great deal of mathematical computations which resulted in its outstanding accoustic effects. The Imam, upon your request, will recite a sura of the Koran and a prayer, which will not fail to touch your heart, whatever your own religion may be. These are after all holy sites famous in the entire Islamic world.

Doru Saodat (Seat of the Mighty)
AmirTemur had this complex builtfor his son Janghir, who died at the age of 22. Later Omar Sheikh, another of Timur's sons, was burried here. The powerful ruler wanted this very site to be his own resting place and had the design all laid out and orders given for its construction but for many reasons his last will was never respected. The gloom and smothering atmosphere of the unpretentious crypt that Tamerlaine built for himself make you shiver and hurry out towards to sun and a breath fresh air.