Ziyorat is the pilgrimage to mausoleums, madrasas and spiritual centers linked to Sufi masters, Islamic scholars and figures venerated by local tradition. It is especially alive in Bukhara and Samarkand, two of Central Asia’s holiest cities.

Near Bukhara lies the Mausoleum of Bahouddin Naqshbandi, founder of one of the most influential Sufi orders in the Islamic world— a place of prayer for pilgrims from across the country and abroad.

In Samarkand, the complex dedicated to Imam al-Bukhari—the great compiler of the Prophet’s hadiths—is considered a key center of Sunni Islam. Visiting it is part of many religious tourism routes in Uzbekistan.

Also in Samarkand, the Bibi-Khanym Mosque and the necropolis of Shah-i-Zinda combine monumental Islamic architecture with popular devotion. Shah-i-Zinda is often called “the holy street,” a corridor of turquoise-tiled mausoleums regarded as one of Asia’s most beautiful spiritual sites.

For travelers interested in religious history, ziyorat reveals a living, scholarly, local Sufi Islam, closely tied to Uzbekistan’s cultural identity—an experience that unites faith, art and heritage.

Although Uzbekistan is predominantly Muslim, there are active Orthodox and Catholic communities, especially in Tashkent.

In the capital, Tashkent, churches still hold liturgies and gather their communities around icons—a testimony to religious diversity in Central Asia through the Soviet era to independence.

In Bukhara, places such as the springs associated with the prophet Job (Ayub) are considered miraculous by local tradition and are visited by both Muslims and Christians. This shared devotion is a hallmark of religious tourism in Uzbekistan.

For spiritual travelers, these stops show something precious: the historical coexistence of different faiths in a crossroads of the Silk Road.

Visiting active churches in Tashkent or sacred sites in Bukhara helps you understand not only faith, but the country’s social and multicultural memory.

The south, especially the Termez region, preserves an impressive Buddhist legacy—key in spreading Buddhism from the Indo-Iranian world into Central Asia.

Archaeological sites such as Fayaztepa and Karatepa show temple remains, meditation halls, reliefs and murals depicting monks, donors and sacred symbols—offering a direct glimpse of monastic life centuries ago.

Finds of Buddhist sculptures, fresco fragments and statues with Greco-Bactrian influence show that Uzbekistan wasn’t only a land of medieval Islam: it was also a meeting point of Buddhism, Hellenistic culture and local traditions.

For travelers into spirituality, comparative religion and archaeology, Termez is essential to religious tourism in Uzbekistan—one of the few places where you can see, in one journey, Sufi Islam, living Christianity and ancient Buddhism.

This blend makes the country a unique destination for spiritual travel, cultural tourism and knowledge routes tied to the Silk Road.

Religious tourism in Uzbekistan is not only for believers: it’s for anyone seeking to grasp the country’s deep history.

From the Sufi mausoleums of Bukhara and the monumental madrasas of Samarkand, to the Buddhist remains of Termez and the Christian communities of Tashkent, all are part of a single spiritual story.

Traveling these routes is to hear ancient voices still resonating—Sufi mystics, scholars, monks, pilgrims. It’s to see how faith shaped Uzbek cities and their way of welcoming visitors.

🙏 Come with respect. Leave with memory.