Noble Bukhara

Sacred long before the dawn of Islam, Bukhara is shaped by the cult of Persian goddess Anahita, Mizrahi Judaism, Manicheaenism and Nestorian Christianity. Dazzling mosques, madrasahs, and mausoleums dominate Bukhara’s skyline today, forming the archetypal image of Uzbekistan, but they are built upon a rich foundation of diverse spirituality.

Bukhara was one of the most important religious centres of the medieval world, second only to Baghdad as a place of religious learning and theological debate. The Persian scholar Imam al-Bukhari — best known for collecting the hadiths (the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) — was born here, and so were the philosopher, astronomer, and physician Avicenna (widely regarded as the father of early modern medicine); and Bahauddin Naqshband Bukhari, founder of Sufism’s largest and most influential order, the Naqshbandi.

My plan for discovering Bukhara’s sacred