Chor-Chinor in Urgut: A Garden of Ancient Plane Trees and a Spring

Near Samarkand there is a place where time is measured not in centuries but in the age of trees. In Urgut, at the foot of the Zarafshan range, grows a grove of huge plane trees that locals call Chor-Chinor, "four plane trees". The trunks here are so wide that six people could not link arms around them, it stays cool by the spring even at noon in July, and next door one of the country's most colourful bazaars is in full swing. It makes an ideal half-day trip from Samarkand.

What Chor-Chinor is

Chor-Chinor is a memorial park and a place that locals hold sacred. At its centre is a group of old plane trees, some of which, by local estimates, are many hundreds of years old. You will hear different figures from different people, but the trees speak for themselves: massive trunks, forked and hollow inside, with branches that shade an entire clearing.

Why "four"? Most likely four especially large trees once stood out here. Today there are many more plane trees in the grove, with young ones growing alongside the old giants.

Besides the trees, the complex includes:

• A spring and pond. Clear, cold water rises from the ground and fills a pool full of fish. Nobody catches them, as they are considered sacred, as at other holy sites in Uzbekistan.
• A mosque and prayer areas. Chor-Chinor is a place of pilgrimage, and many people come on Fridays and holidays.
• Shady alleys and a teahouse. You can sit on a raised tapchan under the trees, order tea and simply spend an hour in the cool.

Legends and hollow trunks

Many stories surround the grove. One says the trees were planted by the disciples of a holy man who came to the area. Another tells of a small room once set up inside the hollow of one of the giant trunks, where, according to locals, students had their lessons. It is hard to verify, but standing next to such a tree it is easy to believe: the trunk really could hold several people.

Please do not climb into the hollows or carve anything into the bark; the trees are very old and vulnerable.

The Urgut bazaar

Urgut is famous across Uzbekistan for its market. It is a huge bazaar drawing traders from nearby villages and neighbouring regions. What to look for:

• Suzani and embroidery. Urgut is one of the centres of suzani, and you can find both new pieces and old embroideries.
• Fabrics, skullcaps and carpets.
• Antiques and old objects, from crockery to jewellery. Remember that exporting items of cultural value requires permission, so when buying antiques ask the seller about paperwork.
• Food: dried fruit, nuts, honey and local sweets.

The bazaar is usually busiest at weekends, but the exact trading days and hours change, so check before you go. Bargaining is expected here; do it politely and with a smile.

Combining the bazaar and Chor-Chinor

The best half-day plan:

1. Leave Samarkand early in the morning to reach the bazaar at peak trading time.
2. Spend two or three hours at the market.
3. Move on to Chor-Chinor; it is not far within Urgut, and a local taxi is easy to find.
4. Rest and have lunch in the shade of the plane trees, then walk to the spring.
5. Head back to Samarkand after lunch.

If you want more nature, you can continue from Urgut higher into the mountains, where there are orchards, springs and views of the range. For trips to mountain villages, it is best to arrange a local driver.

Getting there

Urgut lies about 35 to 40 km south-east of Samarkand, 45 minutes to an hour by car. The route is straightforward, but on market mornings there can be traffic jams at the entrance to town.

Shared rides Samarkand to Urgut are published regularly on Yo'ldosh, including early in the morning, just in time for the market opening. You book your seat in the app, the drivers have verified profiles, and you can arrange a drop-off at the bazaar in the chat. Return rides appear too, especially in the afternoon. Read more about booking on the for passengers page.

When to go

Chor-Chinor is lovely at any warm time of year, but especially in summer, when Samarkand is hot and it is noticeably cooler under the plane trees and by the spring. In autumn the leaves turn gold and red, the most photogenic season. In spring the orchards around Urgut are in blossom.

The grove is open in winter as well, but cold and mud make the market and the walks less comfortable.

Chor-Chinor is a place you visit not for architecture but for the feeling. Sitting under a tree that has seen dozens of generations, drinking tea by the spring and then diving into the noise of the bazaar: that is the real Urgut.

Cover photo: Mirzoulugʻbek, CC0, Wikimedia Commons.