Timur’s mausoleum in Samarkand, the Gur-e Amir, is an architectural marvel dating from 1403 which is said to have inspired the Taj Mahal (1631) in Agra and the St Petersburg Mosque, Russia (1910). It could be a symbol of the much-discussed and much-commented-on concept of the Silk Road.

Credits: Salomé Aldeguer-Roure (France)

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