Travel Burhara, Uzbekistan with Bob & Wilma

Burhara, Uzbekistan (The Political)

Burhara, just because of it's location on trade routes, was a strategic site. It already was a town with a fortress in the sixth century BC and was captured in 329 BC by Alexander the Great.

A series of armies, warring factors and political powers ran over, conquered and defeated the city throughout it's history.

Its city wall did not provide the protection it needed and now is in ruins with only a ruminate remaining.

The fortress, The Ark, located in the middle of the city, had been destroyed and rebuilt a number of times and final became what it is now in just the last 300 years.

In the 1920s, it was nearly destroyed by fire, then under Soviet influence became the city's history museum.

Just below the towering walls of the Ark, is the Registan which functioned as a market square, a plaza or as a place for executions. It was here that communism was proclaimed in 1920 and where it disappeared in 1992. 

Nothing speaks more of politics than the Emir's Summer Palace. It is an elegant collection of beautiful overdone rooms and buildings built in 1911 by the Russians for the last Emir to sap his power and influence. Little distracts more than luxury and ease.   

Photos and story courtesy of Bob & Wilma.