✨💫Nilufar✨💫

мая 25, 2022

ARK CITADEL.

Today is the third day of our practice and we visited the Ark Fortress, which is the heart of Bukhara.

Dilnura, Zuhra and I gave a brief overview of this ancient and beautiful citadel.

Ark Citadel has been the residence of Bukhara's rulers since the first century AD. It is located in the historic old town of Bukhara on the former principal square Registan. The term Registan is derived from the Persian language and consists of the words "reg" (sand) and "stan" (place), which means "sandy place".

The legend about the construction of Ark
According to legend, the citadel was built by the Persian prince Siyavush. Siyavush had to flee from his homeland because of slander and reached Bukhara. Siyavush fell in love with the daughter of the local ruler. The latter put his future son-in-law to the test: he gave him a bull skin and said he could marry his daughter only if he built a palace on that skin. Siyavush turned out to be clever: he cut the skin into thin strips, joined them together and built the desired palace inside the formed circle.

Chorsu Square.

Chorsu means road in 4 directions. And one road from 4 road crossings once led the rulers of Bukhara to the exhibition or ceremonial hall. The peculiarity of this building is that it is located under the open sky and has been used very rarely. In other words, the coronation ceremony, which takes place once in the life of each emir, was held in this courtyard. The coronation ceremony was held in keeping with tradition. The enthronement ceremonies have been held here mainly since the 17th century.

A throne specially built for such a ceremony was erected and the lower part of this marble throne was inscribed with the dates 1669 AH, and it was built by Nurata masters from marble stones brought from the city of Ghazgan. The coronation ceremony was considered a very important event and special preparations were made for it.

Every ruler who sat on a single throne had to be adorned with various items kept in the treasury by his ancestors. Such items include turbans, hats, menswear, coats, shoes and belts. These items were considered sacred and were always kept in the Emir's treasury. And after each amir was used, they were returned to the treasury again and in order to be passed on to future generations. If we look at the fact that the coronation ceremony was covered by various sources, it was mainly in the morning and everyone had to gather in this courtyard. The courtyard was mostly carpeted and the rulers themselves were not able to go directly and sit on the throne. They were decorated with everything worn by their ancestors and then covered with white felt.

A bed was thrown over the white felt, and after sitting on this blanket, the ruler's close relatives on 4 sides carried him to the throne. Why was the throne built high? That’s so that those sitting around can see the Emir better.

MUSEUMS IN ARK

Although you can visit only a part of the citadel, it already gives an impression of its original size. Inside, you can see the former coronation hall. The last coronation took place here in 1911. The same place was also used as a reception hall. The buildings, including the mosque and the former prime minister’s house, are now used by a total of seven museums:

Museum of manuscripts	The museum is located in an old mosque and displays mainly Korans from different centuries. Among others, poetry and scientific works are displayed.
Museum of Nature	The Museum is dedicated to the regional flora and fauna. Among the exhibits are stuffed animals.
Museum of Archeology	The museum exhibits were mainly discovered from digs in the historical settlements of Varakhsha (about 45 km west of Bukhara) and Paykend (about 60 km southwest of Bukhara).
Museum of artefacts found at the ancient site of Paykend	It features exhibits from the ancient settlement of Paykend. The US Ambassador Fund to Tashkent sponsored the Museum.
History Museum I	History Museum covers the period from early times to the 15th century. Worth mentioning is an ancient fresco depicting the Zoroastrian fire cult. The archaeologists found the fresco during excavations in the ancient settlement of Varakhsha.
History Museum II	This history museum covers the period 16th-20th century. Among the exhibits are maps of Central Asian states, clothes, goods of export and import, and old photography.
Museum of Numismatics	The museum displays coins from various periods: from the era of Alexander the Great till the collapse of the Bukhara Emirate

And today we also talked to a Canadian tourist. He was an architect by profession, and he traveled to many countries and painted them. He showed us his pictures.