Uzbekistan

On a Jewish heritage tour of Uzkbestan, visit ancient silk road cities and caravan trails. See beautiful mosques and architecture next to soviet-style buildings and architecture. Explore the deserts and the TianShan mountains.

Visit Central Asia’s most iconic site at night when it’s lit up, Registan Square. Built in the 14th century, it used to occupy a halfway point on the Silk Road right between Asia and Europe.

Discover Uzbek cuisine, delicious combinations of rice, lamb, and other flavorful ingredients. See the UNESCO-listed city of Khiva, an impressively preserved medieval desert town.

Discover the Jewish heritage of Uzbekistan on a Jewish heritage tour. The community in Uzbekistan is 2,000 years old and arrived right after the destruction of the First Temple.

Some say that Jews came fleeing Persian persecution 1,500 years ago, and still, others say Jews came to Uzbekistan as Merchants on the Silk Road in the 600s.

During World War II, many Jews from other parts of the U.S.S.R moved to the country and in 1970 there were 103,000 Jews in Uzbekistan.

Samarkand is home to two synagogues, and there is also a synagogue in Bukhara.

Jewish travel in Uzbekistan is an opportunity to learn about Bukharan Jews, a community with their own Jewish dialect of the Tajik language and one of the oldest ethnoreligious groups in Central Asia.

Many Uzbekistani Jews emigrated due to rising antisemitic policies from the Soviet Union and a weak economy, but there still remains a community and remnants of the long history of Jews in Uzbekistan.

Today, there are around 4,200 Jewish people living in Uzbekistan.

Come to Uzbekistan to discover one of the few places in the world that seems untouched, while discovering Jewish heritage in Uzbekistan.

Gil Travel provides tours to Uzbekistan, the heart of the Silk Road, where Kosher travelers can experience the traditions of the Bukharan Jews. This destination is a feast for the senses, with ancient synagogues and vibrant Jewish quarters in Samarkand and Bukhara. Our expert guides offer a deep historical perspective on how this community flourished in a predominantly Muslim land for centuries.