Uzbekistan at the crossroads of civilisations

Often described this way, this sentence holds some truth. A unique country, Uzbekistan has been since the birth of civilisations at the centre of trade routes between Europe, the Middle East and Asia, evolving from being part of Arabic, Persian, Russian empires or leading their own empire and khanates. Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand's monuments bear witness to this past. The most recent 70-year Soviet rule is still visible today, mainly in each city's urbanisation planning and Tashkent's somehow crazy disparity from the rest of the country. Uzbek cuisine is a great testimony of these crossroads, taking the absolute best of each culinary influence. 

Khiva

Day 1: Landed at 7am local time from Istanbul in Urgench, we visited Ichan Kala, the old city, with a private guide ($50 for 3 hours) to stay awake and help us navigate this huge space! You can find some at the West entrance gate.

Day 2: visit of three Khorezm desert forteresses. A unique trip in the first defenses of the Khorezm kingdom.

Day 3: exploring outside the city, we went to the amusement park, before taking the 🚆 train to Bukhara, 15:13-21:05.

Bukhara

Day 4: a 14-km walk across the city, from west to east, to view and visit 14 monuments! 

💡There isn't much to see inside the Ark/ citadelle, seeing how a 30% of the suite has been excavated.

Day 5: visit of the Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa palace and Chor Bakr mausoleum ⭐. A calm and beautiful place, the call to prayer is particularly beautiful. Then 🚆 train to Samarkand, 16:46 -19:10.

Samarkand

Day 6: visit of the Registan square, the Gour Emir (Amir Timur's mausoleum) ⭐, the gardens & churches' quarter, Siyob Bazar and Shah-i-Zinda at dusk.

Day 7: visit of Ulugbek's observatory and the Afrosiyab archeological site. Then 🚆 train to Tashkent, 16:46 -19:10.

💡Do visit Shah-i-Zinda at dusk to get the beautiful light and beat the crowd.
The Ulugbek's observatory and archeological sites are quick visits, so spread out your visits more wisely than us 😅

Tashkent

Day 8: visit of the western area around the Amir Timur area, and the 3 notable metro stations.

Day 9: visit of Hazrati Imam complex (closed off for refurbishments), Chorsu bazar and Tashkent City. 

💡 I really recommend seeing the new area Tashkent City, its luxury and modernity standing out from the rest of the city.

Day 10: flight back home

Day 1

• ​ Visit of the Hungarian Parliament Országház. 💡Book online as soon as you plan your trip, tickets sell out fast!

Walking around Lipótváros area:

• Grande Synagogue
• Hungarian State Opera
• Basilique Saint Étienne de Pest
• Post Office Savings Bank
• Chain Bridge (Széchenyi Lánchíd)

🍴For hearty eaters, try the Kiskakukk Restaurant. They serve pretty big portions!

Day 2

• Hungarian National Museum : a bit too nationalist and propagandist, not worth going.

Gellért hill and Tabán:

• Citadelle & Liberty Statue (city view)
• Tour de Gellért hill

Castle Hill:

• Buda castle
• Sándor palace
  
• Fisherman's Bastion (Halászbástya)
• Mátyás Church
• 🍴For cake lovers, try the Ruszwurm Confectionary

Day 3

• Walk around City Park. Spot the different museums and memorials.
  
• ​ Széchenyi Baths (≈20€ per person). We stayed 3 hours! 💡 don't forget to bring your swimsuit, a towel, a cap and flipflops.

Day 4

• Magdolna area & Belváros
• Inner City Parish Church (Belvárosi Plébánia Templom)
• Váci Street
  

Corinth

A number of artefacts from the cemeteries and sites were stolen and smuggled. A couple of artefacts and smuggling networks were uncovered in the 2010s, but archaeologists think a lot is missing. Corinth was an important city for being at the isthmus between Central Greece and the Peloponnese. It was at the heart of the Peloponnese war. Ancient Corinthians built the Diolkos, a road to transport the boats from the Corinth Gulf to Kalamaki Bay on wooden logs; sailing around the Peloponnese was very dangerous. Corinth had a number of colonised cities in the north, on the coast of the Ionian Sea, and one colonised city in Sicily: Syracuse. It was a powerful trading city, united with its own alphabet, language and culture. Corinthian artisans were famous for their bronze status. A lot of clay miniatures were found in cemeteries as means for remembering the dead.

The Greek city-states constantly changed sides: Corinth and Sparta sided against Athens in the Peloponnese war (431-404 BC), then Corinth and Athens sided against Sparta in the Corinthian War (395-387 BC). The Achaean League was created to face Philip of Macedonia (father of Alexander the Great), who ultimate defeated them in 338-337 BC. In 146 BC, Roman general Lucius Mummius defeats the Achaean League at Leukopetra, and sacks and destroys Corinth. Men were killed, and all remaining inhabitants sold as slaves. The artefacts were stolen and sent to Rome to decorate rich villas. It’s only in 46 BC that Julius Caesar decides to rebuild Corinth and make it a Roman colony.

Epidaurus

Built in 4th century BC by architect Polykleitos, the theatre seated between 13,000-14,000 people and wasn’t transformed by Romans when they colonised Greece. Epidaurus was a religious and cultural complex, with many temples for Apollo and the Greek God of healing Asclepius. All the fountains, wells and temples were built for pilgrims to follow a specific ritual to receive the healing from the god. A hostel and many baths were also built. The theatre was part of leisure activities offered to the pilgrims. The complex was attacked by the Cilicians pirates.

Kelefá Castle

Kelefá castle was built by the Ottomans in 1670 to defend the bay from Venetians. The Ottomans and Venetians continuously fought to control the Peloponnese coast for trade links.

Mystras

In 1202-1204, crusaders from the French kingdom, Holy Roman Empire and Republic of Venice set off for the Fourth Crusade to free Jerusalem. The aim was to crush the strongest Muslim state at the time, the Egyptian Ayyubid Sultanate, but the crusaders ended up sacking Constantinople in 1204 instead. The change of plan was due to Venetian and Byzantine’s use of the crusading army for personal purposes: attack a rebellious city and reinstate Isaac II Angelos in Constantinople. The crusaders accepted these requests because the allied army would bolster crusading ranks. Because the Constantinople saga failed (Isaac II Angelo’s son Alexios Angelo was murdered), the crusaders decided in the outright conquest of Constantinople.

Once conquered, the crusaders expanded their conquests in certain regions of the Byzantine Empire, effectively creating the Latin Empire of Constantinople, or Frankokratia. This Western catholic empire was to counter the Byzantine orthodox empire. It’s in this context that Frankish prince William II of Villehardouin, ruler of the Latin Empire’s Principality of Achaea, founded Mystras in 1249. The Fourth Crusade is considered to have solidified the East–West Schism.

Mystras was founded in 1249 by a Frankish ruler but fell in 1262 to Byzantine rule. It was a cultural and artistic centre. The city was connected to the West and very inspired by architectural and fashion trends in the West. Mystras was a fortress city with a central fortress and two circles of defensive walls. The city housed many monasteries, churches, aristocratic homes, and shops. Mystras was the capital city of the Despotate of Morea. Morea was the old name of the Peloponnese: the despotes was a bit like a regional governor of the Byzantine empire and usually the emperor’s son.

In 1460, the Ottoman Turks occupied the city and maintained it as a key city of the Mani region. The last inhabitants left the city in 1953, when it was classified archaeological site by Unesco.