Bukhara, Uzbekistan
Fortress located in the city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan
The Ark is a massive earthen fortress in the north-west of old Bukhara, first occupied around the 5th century AD and for centuries the seat of the city's rulers and their courts, until it fell to the Bolsheviks in 1920. Its present shape began to form in the 16th century under the Shaybanids, while the buildings inside date from the last three hundred years. Its sloping mud-brick walls rise to about twenty metres, with a perimeter of nearly 790 metres around almost four hectares, enough for a whole town within the town: palaces, a mosque, offices, the mint, storerooms, stables, an arsenal and prisons. You enter by the great west gate between two towers and climb a long covered ramp into the interior. The restored areas hold an archaeological museum, the throne room and the reception and coronation court where emirs were crowned, a local history museum and the court mosque with carved wooden columns. The eastern half is still in ruins. From the walls you look over the Bolo Hauz Mosque and Bukhara's Registan square.
Allow an hour and a half for the museums and courts. The best view of the walls is from the open square before the west gate, especially before sunset when the mud turns gold. Combine it with the Bolo Hauz Mosque opposite and the Samanid Mausoleum nearby. The ground inside is uneven and the ramp is steep.
Hours and prices change — check before you go. Source: en.wikipedia.org
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