Samarkand Street
A triumphal arch and a puppet theatre.
Azizbek Dadaev — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Azizbek Dadaev — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sultonova M — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Afruza Oybekovna — CC0 · Azizbek Dadaev — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Eternal City (Boqiy Shahar in Uzbek) is a modern re-creation of an old Central Asian town in the Silk Road Samarkand tourist complex, east of the city. Inaugurated with the complex on 23 August 2022, it is a pedestrian island ringed by a canal, with stone-paved lanes, domes, squares, teahouses and restaurants. Work began in 2019. The artist Bobur Ismoilov designed the town, modelling its buildings on real houses and squares described in old books, not on surviving monuments, and its decoration borrows the Afrasiyab mural's scene of a Sogdian ruler receiving envoys from Korea, China and other lands. Its streets evoke Uzbekistan's regions: Samarkand Street, with a triumphal arch, leads to a library and a puppet theatre; Fergana Street is given to weaving and Rishtan ceramics; Bukhara and Khiva fill half the town. Its workshops, 40 at the opening and over 50 today, show woodcarving, pottery, embroidery, jewellery and mulberry paper, with master classes by booking. After dark the lanes light up; in the warm months street performers appear and boats ply the canal, and the complex's free 125 m musical fountain plays with lasers daily from March to November. The open-air amphitheatre beside the town, inspired by Ulugh Beg's observatory, hosts concerts and festivals. It lies about 7 km east of the Registan and opens 10:00 to 22:00, until 23:00 Friday to Sunday. Arrive before sunset and give it two to three hours. The Meros paper mill at Konigil is about 3 km north-west and the Ulugh Beg Observatory about 5 km (all distances in a straight line).
A triumphal arch and a puppet theatre.
Wood, pottery, embroidery and mulberry paper.
Free light and laser shows, March to November.
Silk Road Samarkand complex, on the rowing canal at Konigil, east of Samarkand
By taxi or a ride-hailing app: the complex puts the drive from the historic centre at about 20 minutes, and a visitor guide gave fares of 20,000 to 25,000 som in summer 2024. Cars can queue at the entrance on busy evenings, and the complex is large, so ask to be dropped at the Eternal City itself.
The complex's own guide calls it Uzbekistan's first private Quran museum: about forty handwritten Qurans, originals and copies, the oldest some 500 years old, and a piece of the Kaaba's kiswa. It opens daily from 10:00 to 21:00 with a break from 13:00 to 14:00; entry was 10,000 som in 2024, and modest dress is expected.