Ark Fortress, Bukhara

Ark Fortress, Bukhara http://arsenicson.smugmug.com/gallery/2673542_mjWjJ/ <html> <div align="center"> <table border="0" width="750" id="table1"> <tr> <td> <p align="center"> <b><font size="6" face="Arial">ARK FORTRESS, BUKHARA</font></b><br> <img border="0" src="http://arsenicson.smugmug.com/photos/140160872-S-1.jpg" width="400" height="212"></td> </tr> <tr> <td> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:14.2pt"> <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> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:14.2pt"> <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> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:14.2pt"> <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> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:14.2pt"> <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> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:14.2pt"> <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> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:14.2pt"> <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> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:14.2pt"> <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> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:14.2pt"> <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> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;text-indent:14.2pt"> <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> </tr> </table> </div> </html> http://www.smugmug.com/img/feed-icon.png History Wed, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 -0800 Fri, 06 Apr 2007 05:12:00 -0700 http://www.smugmug.com/ Copyright 2009, the copyright holder of each photograph. Some portions copyright SmugMug. All rights reserved. http://arsenicson.smugmug.com/History/Ark-Fortress-Bukhara/buhara326smugmug/140160872_pxHZA-Ti-1.jpg Ark Fortress, Bukhara http://arsenicson.smugmug.com/gallery/2673542_mjWjJ/ Anton Kovalenko's photo http://arsenicson.smugmug.com/History/Ark-Fortress-Bukhara/2673542_mjWjJ#140160872_pxHZA <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> History Sun, 01 Apr 2007 07:25:02 -0700 nobody@smugmug.com (Anton Kovalenko) http://arsenicson.smugmug.com/History/Ark-Fortress-Bukhara/buhara326smugmug/140160872_pxHZA-Th-1.jpg f78f1d47c051a3f5031fd65aa5db3d51 33f74760fe3b9eb0141c9ba6910ac9ac 94790ce433243be048bdda0ed1feb6f5 13dadfc492c72bbc1a58b4b0801c224d 08d45e319ae69d0ab4dcb4a121bf3782 Anton 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> History architecture, oriental, bukhara, buhara smugmug Anton Kovalenko Anton Kovalenko