Nurata fortress

Nurata is a small town at the northern foot of the Nuratau mountains, where they meet the steppe and the Kyzylkum desert. It lies on the road from Navoi and Samarkand to Lake Aydarkul and its yurt camps, which makes it an easy stop for travellers heading for a night in the desert.

The town owes its existence to water: a powerful spring rises at the foot of the hill, and has made this a place of settlement and pilgrimage for more than two thousand years. Above the spring, on the hill, stand the ruins of the fortress.

According to tradition, the fortress was founded by Alexander the Great around 327 BC, during his campaigns in Sogdiana, the region of Samarkand and Bukhara. Ancient authors mention fortified towns founded or captured by Alexander in this region, and local tradition identifies Nurata as one of them, sometimes under the name Nur.

Historians are cautious: there is no inscription to prove it, and the ruins visible today date from many periods. But archaeological finds show that the hill was fortified in antiquity, and the story of Alexander has been told here for centuries. Whatever the truth, it is one of the few places in Uzbekistan that local people link directly with the Macedonian king.

The fortress occupies the top of a ridge above the town. What survives are mud-brick walls and the outline of towers and enclosures, eroded into soft shapes by wind and rain. The walls follow the line of the ridge, with a citadel at the highest point. Pottery fragments lie on the ground; please leave them where they are.

The ruins are not large or restored, and the main reason to climb is the atmosphere and the view. From the top you look down on the Chashma complex with its mosques and pool, the flat roofs of Nurata, the gardens along the stream and, to the south, the bare ridges of the Nuratau. To the north the steppe stretches towards the desert and Lake Aydarkul.

Below the fortress, the town’s fields and gardens were watered by a remarkable system of underground channels, known in Central Asia as karez (similar to the Persian qanat). These tunnels carried water from the foot of the mountains to the fields, with vertical shafts at intervals for access and maintenance. Some were in use until recent times. Traces of the shafts can be seen around the town; ask your guide or driver to point them out.

A path leads up from near the Chashma spring. The climb takes 10–15 minutes, on loose earth and stones, and is steep in places, so wear shoes with a good grip. There is no shade on the hill. Morning and late afternoon are the best times, both for the light and to avoid the heat in summer.

Location: in the town of Nurata, Navoi region, about 2.5–3 hours by road from Samarkand, 1.5–2 hours from Navoi and about 1.5 hours from the yurt camps near Lake Aydarkul.

Tickets: the fortress hill is open; there may be a small fee for the Chashma complex below.

Time needed: 45 minutes for the fortress; 1.5 hours with the spring and mosques.

Tips: dress modestly, as you will pass through a place of pilgrimage. Combine Nurata with a night in a yurt camp near Aydarkul or a homestay in the mountain village of Sentob. From Navoi, you can add the Sarmishsay petroglyphs on the way. We arrange cars and drivers for the route between Samarkand, Nurata, Aydarkul and Bukhara.