Lyab-i-Hauz is one of the few surviving public pools (hauz) that once dotted Bukhara, ringed by ancient mulberry trees and framed by madrasas. Today it’s the social heart of the old town: locals sip tea in the shade, children play, and the whole square glows softly in the evening.
Don't miss
- The stone pool and its centuries-old mulberry trees
- The Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasa, with phoenixes on its portal
- The statue of Hodja Nasreddin riding his donkey
Good to know
Local tip
Grab a pot of green tea at a poolside chaikhana and simply watch the evening unfold.
Best time
After sunset, when the trees and madrasa are lit and the air cools.
The Last of the Pools
Bukhara once relied on a network of pools fed by canals, but standing water spread disease and most were filled in under Soviet rule. Lyab-i-Hauz survived, and the mischievous folk hero Hodja Nasreddin, immortalised in the bronze statue beside it, still presides over the square he supposedly once outwitted an emir in.
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