The Tomb of Ahmed Yasawi, Turkestan, Kazakhstan

THE TOMB OF AHMED YASAWI (Turkestan, Kazakhstan)

Sufi saint, poet, and mystic Khawaja Ahmed Yasawi died in Turkestan in 1166. Over 220 years later, in 1389, the Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur (sometimes called Tamerlane) replaced his modest 12th-century mausoleum with a magnificent structure in the Timurid style, featuring vault-and-dome and glazed tiles. It remains uncompleted since the death of Timur in 1405, but continues to draw pilgrims.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Bukhara, Uzbekistan

BUKHARA (Uzbekistan)

Bukhara was the name of an ancient oasis along the Silk Road, and became attached to the city, perhaps in the 10th century. Occupied for over 2,000 years, the city was besieged by Genghis Khan for 15 days in 1220. The medieval center, with about 140 architectural monuments, is largely intact, and has long been a center of trade, and of Islamic scholarship, culture, and religion.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Medieval Samarra, Iraq

MEDIEVAL SAMARRA (Iraq)

In 836 the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258 and 1261-1517) moved its capital to a 26-mile stretch of the Tigris River, about 80 miles north of the then-capital of Baghdad. The capital returned to Baghdad in 892; lavish palace complexes and the Great Mosque with its spiral minaret were largely abandoned starting in 940, leaving prime pickings for modern archaeologists.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

Marrakesh, Morocco

MARRAKESH (Morocco)

The Medina (old Arab quarter) of Marrakesh was founded 1070-72 by the Almoravids, a confederation of Berber tribes whose empire included NW Africa and S Spain (Andalusia). It has a major Mosque, a Kasbah, battlements, monumental doors, and gardens from that period. Later additions--and the stalls of vendors--add to the charm. It is today one of Africa's busiest cities, as well as a site of Sufi pilgrimage.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Kasbah of Algiers

THE KASBAH OF ALGIERS (Algeria)

The citadel of Algiers and the traditional quarter around it were founded on the ruins of a 10th-century Berber city. While some old mosques (and Ottoman-style palaces) remain, before French rule began in 1839 there were 166 buildings meant for religious use, including 109 mosques; 19 remain. Home today to 40,000-70,000 people, the city is in severe disrepair.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Bamiyan Valley

THE BAMIYAN VALLEY (Afghanistan)

Home to two monumental 6th-century Buddha statues (125 feet and 180 feet tall, carved directly into a cave-riddled cliff nearly a mile long) until destroyed as idolatrous by the Taliban in March 2001, the area which once lay along one of the "Silk Roads" still has remains of 3rd-5th century Buddhist monastic centers and 6th-10th century Islamic forts.

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)

The Old City of Jerusalem

THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM (Jerusalem, Israel)

A third of a mile square, core of the modern city and a hotbed of religious activity for millennia, at least since the days when it was called "The City of David" (yes, THAT David). Home to Temple Mount and Western Wall (Jews), Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Christians), and Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque (Muslims).

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(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)