At the architectural complex Chor-Bakr, which is also called the «City of the Dead», it is easier to feel the atmosphere of the old Bukhara, its oriental color and authenticity. It is there that the shooting of most films about Central Asia took place.
Chor-Bakr has got the name of the «City of the Dead», as, actually, it is a large necropolis, where there were buried a great number of religious figures and statesmen of the Middle Ages. There you can see alleys and family mortuary courts (hazira), where the members of the family were buried. On both sides of the alleys you can see the entrance portals of mortuary mosques and iwans.
In Uzbek Chor-Bakr means «Four Brothers» as the complex was developed around the burials of four sheikhs, who belonged to Djuybarsk syyids from the Naqshbandi Sufi order.
Naqshbandi Sufi order was founded by Baha-ud-Din Naqshband. His necropolis is considered to be one of the most sacred Muslim pilgrimage places in Central Asia. It is at the village Qasr-i Arifan, in the eastern suburb of Bukhara. Eventually, the Naqshbandi Sufi order acquired a great importance among the Muslims of the entire world, adhering to Sunnism.
The building of the Chor-Bakr was begun in 16 century, after the death of the khodja Abu Bakr Said. For 20 years he occupied important state positions and was the teacher of the ruler of Bukhara, Abdulla Khan II. It is believed that Abu Bakr Said was a descendant of a righteous caliph, follower of the Prophet Muhammad and the founder of the family of Djuybarsk syyids.
Around the burial place of the khodja Abu Bakr Said there were built a mosque, хоnаqоhi and a madrasah. On the square in front of the buildings there was built a minaret to give the importance to the complex. Later, at the complex was buried the imam Abu Bakr Ahmed and the other Djuybarsk sheikhs.
