The his­toric town of Samarkand is a cross­road and melt­ing pot of the world‘s cul­tures. Found­ed in the 7th cen­tu­ry B.C. as ancient Afrasiab, Samarkand had its most sig­nif­i­cant devel­op­ment in the Timurid peri­od from the 14th to the 15th cen­turies. The major mon­u­ments include the Reg­is­tan Mosque and madrasas, Bibi-Khanum Mosque, the Shakhi-Zin­­da com­pound and the Gur-Emir ensem­ble, as well as Ulugh-Beg‘s Obser­va­to­ry.