Located in the beautiful city of Samarkand., one of the treasures of the ancient silk road, this is one of the most beautiful and sacret places to the muslism culture, and the first Necropolis I talk about here in the blog. Not far from Bibi Khanum mosque there is one of the most mysterious and
unique architectural monuments of Samarkand, Shakhi Zinda complex. It
consists of rows of refine sparkling blue colors tombs. Harmoniously
combined in a lively and moving composition, various mausoleums are
grouped along the narrow medieval streets. Shakhi Zinda consists of
eleven mausoleums, which were built one after another in 14 - 15th
centuries.
The name, which means ‘Tomb of the Living King’, refers to its original,
innermost and holiest shrine – a complex of cool, quiet rooms around
what is probably the grave of Qusam ibn-Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet
Mohammed who is said to have brought Islam to this area in the 7th
century. Legend traces its history back to 676, when Kussam-ibn-Abbas
arrived to convert Zoroastrian Sogdiana to Islam. According to legend, Qusam was mortally wounded on the walls of
Samarkand and escaped underground, where he continues to live, hence the
name of the necropolis, Shahi-Zinda – “Living f truly exquisite tiny
mausoleums of tessellated turquoise, studded with gold, blue, green,
violet. They say, if you count the same number of stairs both on the way up and back, you have no sins!!Why is in my bucketlist? You know I'm a huge fan of Islam Architecture... after I visited the Mosque in Abu Dhabi I made a promisse to myself to see the greatest buildings made by this culture cause it's really worth it, doesn't matter your religion, you'll always be amazed by this things!
How to visit
The opening hours are April to October 7am-8pm; November to March 9am-5pm. I would consider to buy the ticket on viator before the arrival, then it's better cause you skip the line of one of the most visited places in Central Asia. The ticket is around 3.70€ (cheap in our coin, yes ahah). You also have soo many tours that include this monument... Just check this link and find your favorite:
Happy journeys in Uzbekistan!
