#1481 Uzbekistan

The flag of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: Oʻzbekiston davlat bayrogʻi/Ўзбекистон давлат байроғи) consists of three horizontal blue, white and green bands separated by two thin red fimbriations, with a crescent moon and twelve stars at the canton. Adopted in 1991 to replace the flag of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR), it has been the flag of the Republic of Uzbekistan since the country gained independence in that same year. The design of the present flag was partly inspired by the former one.

The colors and symbols of the flag carry cultural, political, and regional meanings. The white stands for peace and purity, while blue represents water and the sky. The latter colour also alludes to the flag of Timur, who ruled over present-day Uzbekistan during the 14th century. Green officially epitomizes "nature and fertility" – though it may also represent Islam – while the thin red stripes represents the "life force" within everyone. The crescent at the canton evokes "the rebirth of" Uzbekistan as an "independent" country. Moreover, it symbolizes the Islamic faith practiced by 88% of Uzbekistan's population. To the right of the crescent are twelve stars, which signify the months of the Islamic calendar, as well as the constellations featured in the zodiac.

Wikipedia.org

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Sent on: December 19, 2017

Received on: January 9, 2018

#271 Fergana, Uzbekistan

The Kalyan minaret is a minaret of the Po-i-Kalyan mosque complex in Bukhara, Uzbekistan and one of the most prominent landmarks in the city.

The minaret, designed by Bako, was built by the Qarakhanid ruler Mohammad Arslan Khan in 1127 to summon Muslims to prayer five times a day. An earlier tower collapsed before completion. It is made in the form of a circular-pillar baked brick tower, narrowing upwards. It is 45.6 metres (149.61 ft) high (48 metres including the point), of 9 metres (29.53 ft) diameter at the bottom and 6 metres (19.69 ft) overhead.

The body of the minaret is topped by a rotunda with 16 arched fenestrations, from which the muezzins summoned the Muslims in the city to prayer. There is a brick spiral staircase that twists up inside around the pillar to the rotunda. Once the minaret was believed to have had another round section above the rotunda, but now only the cone-shaped top remains. The tower base has narrow ornamental strings belted across it made of bricks which are placed in both straight or diagonal fashion. The frieze is covered with a blue glaze with inscriptions.

In times of war, warriors used the minaret as a watchtower to lookout for enemies.

About a hundred years after its construction, the tower so impressed Genghis Khan that he ordered it to be spared when all around was destroyed by his men. It is also known as the Tower of Death, because until as recently as the early twentieth century criminals were executed by being thrown from the top. Fitzroy Maclean, who made a surreptitious visit to the city in 1938, says in his memoir Eastern Approaches, "For centuries before 1870, and again in the troubled years between 1917 and 1920, men were cast down to their death from the delicately ornamented gallery which crowns it."

 Wikipedia.org

Property No #602

It's in the List of UNESCO as a part of Historic Centre of Bukhara.

Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO WHS: 1993

Thank you, Jahongir !

Sent on: June 22, 2013

Received on: July 16, 2013

#242 Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Samarkand (Uzbek: Samarqand Самарқанд; Persian: سمرقند‎; Russian: Самаркандfrom Sogdian: "Stone Fort" or "Rock Town") is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province. The city is most noted for its central position on the Silk Road between China and the West, and for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study. In the 14th century it became the capital of the empire of Timur (Tamerlane) and is the site of his mausoleum (the Gur-e Amir). The Bibi-Khanym Mosque (a modern replica) remains one of the city's most notable landmarks. The Registan was the ancient center of the city.

Shakhi Zinda Necropolis is an architectural spectacular in the southeastern part of the Afrosiab site of Samarkand, having 11 mausoleums, built from the 14th and 15th centuries.

 Wikipedia.org

Property No #603

It's in the list of UNESCO as a part of Samarkand - Crossroad of Cultures.
Date of Inscription on the List of UNESCO: 2001

Tashkent (Uzbek: Toshkent, Тошкент [tɒʃˈkent]; Russian:Ташкент, [tɐʂˈkʲent]; literally "Stone City") is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province.

Construction of a mosque done in the shortest time (four months) in 2007 on the initiative of President Islam Karimov. The mosque itself is a unique symbol of Tashkent architectural style: at the entrance to the mosque there is a terrace with twenty-carved columns of sandalwood. The mosque also has two large blue domes, the interior of which is decorated with gold leaf as in madrassah Tillakari in Samarkand.
Window openings of domes are designed so that the sun’s rays continuously penetrate inside the mosque from sunrise to sunset. At the entrance to the mosque there are erected two minarets of 53 meters in height.

The Madrasah of Mukhammad Amin-khan is one of the main sights, located in the historical district Itchan-Kala. It is the largest madrasah not only in Khiva but in the Central Asia. The two-storied building occupies the area of 72 to 60 meters and has 125 khudjras (cells), intended for 260 students. The unique of this madrasah is that each khudjra consisted of two rooms and khudjras on second floor consisted of room and loggia, looking out the facade.

The Madrasah was built in 1851-1854 by the order of Khiva ruler Muhammad Amin-khan and was named after him. The building of the Madrasah of Mukhammad Amin-khan has five domes and flank towers. The facade is decorated with rich ornament of glazed brick, wooden doors abound in ornamental carving, majolica face impresses with herbal patterns. Above the entrance there is the inscription in Arabic: “This wonderful building will stay here forever to descendants’ joy”.

On the Stamp: Itchan Kala.

Thank you, Igor !

Sent on: March 12, 2013

Received on: May 4, 2013