Uzbekistan - Shakhrisabz

 Imagine...

The year is 1403. You're the ambassador of the King of Spain heading to the court of Amir Timur, ruler of much of Western and central Asia, one of the greatest military tactician and conquerors in recorded history. Your journey has taken many months, the last few of them over hundreds of miles of unending desert and scrubland. Finally ahead of you, rising up from the sand, you see the thick red mud walls of a fortified city. The gates are opened to you, to the sight of the great White Palace of Timur, 50 metres high, with a soaring archway between two towers, minarets another 20 metres higher still, and fountains that fall from upper to lower storey then down to three pools tiled in blue and gold. Are you dreaming?








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