Happy Bird Handicrafts Centre

Samarkand


A dozen craft shops cluster around this single courtyard, making it a great place to shop for quality souvenirs, from ceramics and jewellery to wood carvings and suzani (embroidery). The handmade paper comes from nearby Konigil, as it has done for a millennium. The Samarkand Tourist Information Centre runs craft tours here if you fancy learning more about the crafts on display.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Samarkand attractions

1. Sher Dor Medressa

0.11 MILES

The entrance portal of the Registan's Sher Dor (Lion) Medressa, opposite the Ulugbek Medressa and finished in 1636, is decorated with roaring felines that…

2. Tilla-Kari Medressa

0.13 MILES

On the northern side of the Registan is the Tilla-Kari (Gold-Covered) Medressa, completed in 1660, with a pleasant, gardenlike courtyard. The highlight…

3. Makhdumi Khorezm Mosque

0.13 MILES

This restored Old Town gem is 100m east of the Registan. If it's locked ask the caretaker to let you in for a glimpse at the lush ceiling tilework.

4. Registan

0.14 MILES

This ensemble of majestic, tilting medressas – a near-overload of majolica, azure mosaics and vast, well-proportioned spaces – is the centrepiece of the…

5. Ulugbek Medressa

0.2 MILES

The Ulugbek Medressa, on the western side of the Registan, is the square's original medressa, finished in 1420 under Ulugbek who is said to have taught…

6. Qoraboy Oqsoqol Mosque

0.25 MILES

The gloriously faded Qoraboy Oqsoqol Mosque is hidden down an alley just off Abu Laiz Samarkandi ko'chasi in the old Jewish Quarter of the Old Town.

7. Bibi-Khanym Mosque

0.34 MILES

The enormous congregational Bibi-Khanym Mosque, northeast of the Registan, was financed from the spoils of Timur's invasion of India and must have been…

8. Mubarak Mosque

0.36 MILES

This small neighbourhood mosque in the Old Jewish Quarter is part of a charming ensemble with a hauz (pool) and small minaret.