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Mausoleum of Gowhar Shad
The Mausoleum of Gowhar Shad sits in a small park, currently undergoing extensive replanting. It’s a textbook example of Timurid architecture, with its square box topped with a high drum and ribbed melon dome, albeit one largely denuded of its turquoise tiling. The door to Gowhar S
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Takht
Spread across a hill 5km north of Herat, Takht-e Safar is a popular place for picnics. Built as a pleasure garden for Sultan Baiqara in the 14th century, its an oasis of green, with good views to the city. Its a popular place for picnics and to catch the sunset (when cars full of w
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Shah
Called the Mosque of the King of Two Swords, the Shah-e Doh Shamshira Mosque on Kabul river must be one of the most unusual in Islam. Built in the 1920s during Amanullahs drive for modernisation, it looks like it would be more at home in Versailles or Vienna. The facades are all It
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National Archive
Holding over 15,000 documents, the National Archive is housed in a palace built at the end of the 19th century by Abdur Rahman Khan for his son.Important documents are on display (although some are copies, with the originals too valuable to show) including the treaty with the Briti
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Ruined City of Balkh
Once comparable to Babylon in splendour and size, the remains of the ancient city of Balkh still offer glimpses of a magnificent Afghani history. Built alongside a tributary of the Amu Darya River, the twice ruined city of Balkh has played a continuous role in the changing landscap
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Jamis Tomb
Mawlana Abdur Rahman Jami was Herat’s greatest poet and one of the greatest Sufi poets who wrote in Persian. He was a regular at the court of Sultan Baiqara, where he composed many treatises on the soul’s meditation of the divine. He died in 1492 and is still revered by modern Hera
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Kabul Zoo
The zoo is a popular place for Kabulis in need of recreation. Western animal lovers might find it more than a little depressing.Visitors are greeted by a bronze statue of Marjan the lion, the zoo’s most celebrated animal. A present from West Germany in the 1960s, Marjan survived li
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Ka Faroshi Bird Market
Entering Kabul’s bird market is like stepping back in time a hundred years, to a corner of the city untouched by war or modernisation. Also known as the Alley of Straw Sellers, it’s a narrow lane tucked away behind the Pul-e Khishti Mosque, lined with stalls and booths selling bird
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Nimla Gardens
These gardens 40km from Jalalabad were laid out in 1610 by the Mughal emperor Jehangir. They follow the quartered Chahar Bagh –style of classical Mughal gardens, with beds of plants and trees given order by the addition of terraces, straight paths and channels of water punctuated b
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European Cemetery
This cemetery was built in 1879 by the British army for the dead of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.The cemetery contains around 150 graves. Most are from members of Kabul’s international community from before the war. Only a few of the original British Army headstones remain, now moun
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Mausoleum of Nadir Shah
King Nadir Shah was assassinated in 1933, the time-honoured way that most Afghan leaders meet their fate. His monumental tomb sits overlooking east Kabul at Teppe Maranjan. It has suffered considerably in war. The mausoleum is of imposing black marble, with monumental columns toppe
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Omar Land Mine Museum
This is a museum that only a country like Afghanistan could host. Run by the Organisation for Mine clearance and Afghan Rehabilitation (OMAR), it acts as a training and education centre for land mine and UXO clearance. The exhibit holds more than 60 types of mine that still litter
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Sultani Museum
This private museum in the same grounds as the National Gallery is something of a curiosity. It was set up in 2004 by Ahmad Shah Sultani, a gold trader and sometime antiques dealer, who spent much of the civil war in exile in London. Here he collected a large collection of Afghan a
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Darya Ajdahar
Five kilometres west of Bamiyan lies Darya Ajdahar, or Valley of the Dragon, where youll find the petrified remains of a monstrous creature that once terrorised the region. The dragon took up residence in Bamiyan in pagan times, and fed daily on a diet of virgins and camels provide
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Shrine of Hazrat Ali
The twin blue domes of the Shrine of Hazrat Ali are one of Afghanistan’s most iconic sights, and pilgrims come from across the country to pay their respects at the tomb contained inside. Although non-Muslims are forbidden entry to the shrine building itself, views of the building a
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Baburs Gardens
Laid out by the Mughal ruler Babur in the early 16th century, and the site of his tomb, these gardens are the loveliest spot in Kabul. At 11 hectares, they are also the largest public green space in the city. Left to ruins during the war, they have been spectacularly restored by th
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Shahr
The imposing ruins of Shahr-e Zohak guard the entrance to the Bamiyan valley, perched high on the cliffs at the confluence of the Bamiyan and Kalu rivers. Built by the Ghorids, they stand on foundations dating back to the 6th century. Genghis Khans grandson was killed here, bringin
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Herat Citadel
Towering over the Old City, the Herat Citadel has watched over Herat’s successes and setbacks with its imposing gaze for centuries. The oldest building in Herat, it is believed to stand on the foundations of a fort built by Alexander the Great. It has served as a seat of power, mil
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Musalla Complex & Minarets
The wife of Shah Rukh, Gowhar Shad, was one of the most remarkable women in Afghanistans history. She was a great patron of the arts and commissioned some of Islams finest buildings, including Herats Musalla Complex and the Great Mosque in Mashhad (Iran). She also played an active
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Gazar Gah
This shrine is one of Afghanistans holiest sites, dedicated to the 11th-century saint and poet Khoja Abdullah Ansari. Run by Sufis from the Qadirriyah order, it receives hundred of pilgrims from across Afghanistan daily; Gazar Gahs name means the Bleaching Ground, a Sufi allusion t
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