Poi Kalon Bukhara

Poi Kalon, “the foot of the great one”, is the ensemble at the centre of old Bukhara. Its focus is the Kalyan Minaret, a tapering brick tower built in 1127 and wrapped in bands of patterned brickwork; legend says it so impressed Genghis Khan that he spared it when he destroyed the rest of the city.

Facing each other across the square are the Kalyan Mosque, whose courtyard holds thousands of worshippers, and the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah, still a working religious school, with its twin turquoise domes. From here it is a pleasant walk through the old trading domes, where merchants sell carpets, ceramics and spices, to the Lyabi-Hauz pool and the Ark fortress.

Bukhara’s historic centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and compact enough to explore on foot. The square is loveliest at sunset, when the brick turns gold.