An old Zoroastrian temple in Bukhara. Note the water damage that goes up to about six feet at most - this was buried under a lot of sand. One of the things that Genghis Khan didn't destroy, because when he visited, it was completely covered in sand. Observant Muslims go there to light candles in wall alcoves but they do not know why.
It doesn't have a real dome since dome technology didn't exist then. Instead, it's a ghetto dome: a square ring of bricks then an octagon of bricks atop it, then a hexadecagon of bricks atop that, then a .... to approximate a circle at the top.
This thoroughly unremarkable looking piece of wall was one of three things not ravaged by the Mongols in Bukhara. The other is the Kalon minaret, previously mentioned, and the one aforementioned Zoroastrian temples. The reason why it was not destroyed by the Mongols is that, as you can see, it was pretty much destroyed
by Alexander the Great.
Top of Kalon Minaret. This is about 150 feet up in the air and I was about to shit bricks.
This is the Evil Petting Zoo. It is an alcove of a shrine devoted to some imam or other, where people brought an eagle that they had shot trying to fly off with a sheep (!). I don't know why they brought it, but I suppose if you see an eagle flying away with a sheep and you shoot it and it lives, you pretty much take it someplace holy and hope that they can take care of it. Soon, people brought other odd animals, including more eagles, a monitor lizard, some vultures and a cobra (kept in chicken wire).
Please note the eagle isn't actually
tied to anything. It just sits there, cool as a cucumber, knowing it can eat your bozack if it wants.
This is the building where Tamerlane is buried. Everything on the wall is gold leaf.
Stalin had his scientists exhume Tamerlane to see if they could learn anything from his corpse. He was indeed lame, and had red hair. The night they exhumed his corpse, Hitler invaded Russia.
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Topic: Architecture that amazes the knees (Read 5235 times)