Across Shahizinda ko'chasi from the Siob Bazaar, the Hazrat-Hizr Mosque occupies a hill on the fringes of Afrosiab. The 8th-century mosque that once stood here was burnt to the ground by Chinggis (Genghis) Khan in the 13th century and was not rebuilt until 1854. In the 1990s it was lovingly restored by a wealthy Bukharan and today it’s Samarkand’s most beautiful mosque, with a fine domed interior and views of Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Shah-i-Zinda and Afrosiab from the minaret. The ribbed aivan ceiling drips colour.
Next to the mosque is the new and surprisingly modest tomb of Uzbekistan's first president Islam Karimov, who died in 2016.
