Navoi
Navoi district is situated in the south-west of Uzbekistan, in the midst of Kyzylkum desert. Covered area is 110 800 square kilometres. Climate is dry continental. Population is 800 000 people with the most being inhabited in the rural areas. Eight administrative regions with Navoi city as a centre are included in the district Population of Navoi is above 100 000 people. Other considerable towns in the district are Uchkuduk and Zaravshan.
Tourist centres: Nurata and Sarmishsay.
SARMISHSAY: MUSEUM OF ROCK CARVINGS
THE SARMISHSAY GORGE — ONE OF THE WONDERFUL AREAS OF UZBEKISTAN THAT PUTS MUCH ATTENTION OF SCIENTISTS AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD — IS LOCATED ON THE SOUTHERN SLOPES OF THE KARATAU MOUNTAIN RANGE, 30-40 KILOMETRES TO THE NORTH-EAST OF NAVOI CITY. SARMISHSAY THAT IS CONSIDERED RIGHTFULLY TO BE THE HISTORICALLY-LANDSCAPED MUSEUM IN THE OPEN SKY, IS UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE UNESCO.
Over 4000 petroglyphs, painted on the rocks in ancient times, are still preserved in Sarmishsay, representing a peculiar art gallery inherited by us from the nomadic tribes of the Zaravshan Valley. Petroglyphs of Sarmishsay can be considered as the unique archive, so-called “Encyclopedia” collecting information about the life, history and culture of ancestors settled in this territory. Rock carvings of Sarmishsay are the real evidence of many-century's evolution of fauna and flora in this region. Not far from petroglyphs, the burial mounds of nomads and sacrificial places are located. Since ancient times, this territory has been a sacred area where locals performed their sacred ceremonies on holy days.
A lot of the unique architectural monuments form all together the only one of its kind archaeological complex located in Sarmishsay valley covering 20 square kilometres' territory. These are: caves that still keep the evidence of ancestor's life; workshops, mines, burial mounds and settlements related to the Stone and Bronze Ages, early Iron Age, Middle Ages and Common Era as well.
In Zeravshan there is a wonderful museum possessing expositions of the ancient civilization traces of which are still preserved in Sarmishsay. In the small-sized halls of the museum one can meet primitive instruments and articles of ethnographical culture, used at one time by the people inhabiting this area. By the approval of local specialists, samples of precious and semi-precious containing metals, excavated from the Earth depths, contain practically all the elements of Mendeleyev's Table...
A small town Nurata located in 240 kilometres from Samarkand, is a place of pilgrimage for Islam. In 327 BC Alexander the Great built the fortress called Nur. The fortress's reminders are still preserved. While touring the town you can see two mosques Namazgokh, Djuma and a holy spring Chashma teeming with sacred fish.
Chashma is a place of the faithful's pilgrimage and one of the most significant religious centres of Islam in the region. The complex of religious constructions Chashma (Tajik word “chashma” means “spring”) includes the spring, a well, mosque Djuma, mazar Nur-ata and hammom (bathhouse). Water from the spring flows along arik full of fish. Together with the spring, the fish too have a holy status. This is one of Nurata's miracles. As the local people explain, no one can eat this fish as he will become ill and die or the body will be covered with white spots. Water temperature in saint Nurata spring is constant: +19.5 degrees. Fifteen microelements including gold and silver are found here, thanks to which the water keeps fresh during a long period.
The round mosque Djami is located directly above the spring and has 40 columns. The dome, 16 meters in diameter, is one of the largest in Central Asia. Words said in a whisper in small corner are clearly heard round the mosque.
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A 6-meter depth well Besh Pandja, from which water flows into Chashma, is located near the spring. Walls of the well are built with crude stones. On the branches of bushes and trees in holy places, and near mosques throughout Uzbekistan ribbons and pieces of handkerchiefs are tied. According to the legend every small knot is a wish that certainly will come true..
Fortress Nur built by Alexander the Great is one of the most ancient and significant archaeological monuments of the region. 500x500 meters in size, it was enclosed with a large wall and towers. Ruins of the fortress are preserved up todate..
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The construction of the unique underground water-pipe near Nurata-kariz system, is connected with the name of the outstanding commander, Alexander the Great. Kariz is an ancient water-pipe laid from a spring to place where it could be used. Its length may reach several kilometers. Wells serving for cleaning and control over plumbing went down from the surface several meters apart from each other. Now local people again resort to the use of such traditional water-supply network.
