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Article: Silk route regions revisited. (Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva in Uzbekistan) (Mosaic)
- Article from:
- The Middle East
- Article date:
- March 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 IC Publications Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In a country with so many mosques and medersa it is strange not to hear the call of the faithful to prayer, but this may not be the case for long, prohibited from practising their religion during the years of by Communist rule, Uzbekistan's Muslims - around 70% of the population - are slowly taking up the Qur'an again.
Five mosques (as well as three churches and a synagogue) are open in Samarkand, but while Soviet subsidies restored some places of worship, the majority were converted into shops or museums.
Today, Central Asia's oldest mosque, the 11th century Magok-i- Attari in Bukhara, houses a collection of antique carpets. Instead of removing your ...