Ark Fortress, Bukhara<html>
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<b><font size="6" face="Arial">ARK FORTRESS, BUKHARA</font></b><br>
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<span lang="EN-US">The ancient legend credits the construction of
the Ark citadel to Siyavush an epic hero of the Central Asia.
Young Siyavush fell in love with the local Khans daughter, and the
father, as it often happens in legends, decided to put him to a
test. The Khan unrolled a bulls skin on the ground and ordered
Siyavush to build him a palace on the ground under this skin. But,
again as it should be in a decent legend, Siyavush was smart, he cut
the skin into narrow ribbons, tied them together and had circled an
area where he built the palace, which we now call an Ark of Buhara.
Siyavush himself is said to be buried under the main gate of the
fortress.</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US">However, thats just a legend. The Ark was build
by thousands of slaves with quite primitive tools. It was meant to
be a symbol of local rulers strength, power and stability. Alas,
the Arks history is quite different: it was ruined, rebuild and
reconstructed many times, over and over again. The real age of the
fortress is unknown; whats known is that 15 centuries ago it
already was a residence for rulers of a quite vast and populated
area, and its first construction days are probably two two and a
half thousand years away from us.</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US">The fortress housed the ruler himself, with all
his wives, servants and vaults full of treasures, the major civil
and military officers with their families, various workshops and
storehouses, stables, armories and a prison; the population of the
Ark fortress was up to 3000 people.</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US">The Ark was also known to have a unique library
which attracted some of the most prominent eastern scientists,
philosophers and writers: Rudaki, Ferdousi, Avicenna, Farabi and
Omar Hayam. Avicenna has described it as follows: In this library I
have found books which I never knew about, and have never seen ever
since. After reading them I have understood the place of each
scientist in science. They have uncovered such a depth of knowledge
before me which I never knew before. The fate of the library is
unknown; most probably it was plundered and lost in one of wars that
rolled over Bukhara.</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US">As it was said above, the Ark was rebuilt
multiple times. In pre-Islamic period a major reconstruction was
done in IX-X centuries during the reign of Samanids dynasty. In
1220 the Ark was the last stronghold of resistance against Chingiz-Khan;
it fell under the conquerors mighty siege and was ruined.</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US">In XVI century, under Sheibanids dynasty, the
fortress was rebuilt again and became the Ark as we know it today,
more or less. In the late XVI century its eastern gate was ruined
and never restored since then, leaving the Western gate the only one
remaining.</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US">The current look of the Ark was practically
finalized in September 1920, when the last Bukhara Emir was
overthrown and the city was taken by the Red army, led by Mikhail
Frunze. A major part of the fortress on the Eastern side was
completely destroyed by bombardment, and almost the whole citadel
was on fire for four days. Whats left now is just a small piece of
the past grandeur.</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US">Todays Ark is naturally and deservedly one of
the major tourist attractions in Bukhara and in the whole
Uzbekistan. A big portion of its spectacular wall, about 800 meters
long and 20 meters high, is restored to allow us to see how they
looked like in their better years. The entrance goes through a
spectacular Western gate and then the path leads you through a wide
corridor to the Djami mosque and the main terrace with a wide view
at Bukhara and from where you can get to all the remaining places in
the citadel: a couple of museums, Emirs quarters and the throne
yard, and the office of the prime minister.</span></p>
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<span lang="EN-US">You can also persuade one of the local guides,
whom you just cant miss when entering the fortress, to show you the
eastern part of the Ark for a very modest extra price. Prepare to
pass through a rough terrain, which is now everything whats left of
this part of the citadel, but when you reach the eastern edge of
this territory, you will be rewarded by a spectacular panoramic view
at Bukhara historical center.</span></td>
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</html>http://arsenicson.smugmug.com/History/Ark-Fortress-Bukhara/buhara326smugmug/140160872_pxHZA-Ti-1.jpghttp://arsenicson.smugmug.com/gallery/2673542_mjWjJ/2007-04-05T22:12:00ZCopyright 2009, the copyright holder of each photograph. Some portions copyright SmugMug. All rights reserved.SmugMugAnton Kovalenko's photo<p><a href="http://arsenicson.smugmug.com">Anton Kovalenko</a> </p><p><a href="http://arsenicson.smugmug.com/History/Ark-Fortress-Bukhara/2673542_mjWjJ#140160872_pxHZA" title="Anton Kovalenko's photo"><img src="http://arsenicson.smugmug.com/History/Ark-Fortress-Bukhara/buhara326smugmug/140160872_pxHZA-Th-1.jpg" width="150" height="79" alt="Anton Kovalenko's photo" title="Anton Kovalenko's photo" style="border: 1px solid #000000;" /></a></p>2009-02-13T12:56:59ZAnton Kovalenkohttp://arsenicson.smugmug.comhttp://arsenicson.smugmug.com/History/Ark-Fortress-Bukhara/buhara326smugmug/140160872_pxHZA-Th-1.jpg