Mausoleum of Sheikh Massal ad
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WWII Monument
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Parchan
Tall white marble column topped by a golden emblem reminiscent of an ancient Roman standard.
Takht
A ruined 2300-year-old Graeco-Bactrian temple close to the point where Alexander crossed the Oxus in 329 BC.
Devastich Statue
A statue of Devastich, the areas last Sogdian leader, dominates the roundabout at the west end of town.
National Library
Opened in 2011, this US$40 million library is reputedly Central Asias biggest. Free internet, readers card 10TJS.
Victory Park
For the best views over the city, watch the sun set over a draught beer from Victory Park whose impressive WWII monument is also worth a look.
Abdullatif Sultan Medressa
The working 15th-century Abdullatif Sultan Medressa is also known as the Kök Gumbaz (Blue Dome) after its eye-catching turquoise Timurid dome.
Green Bazaar
The bustling and colourful Shah Mansur Bazaar is the heartbeat of Dushanbe trade and the best place to stock up on travel snacks from dried fruit to Korean kimchi.
Rudaki Statue
On his pond-fronted garden plinth, beneath an impressive blue mosaic arc full of stars, Rudaki appears to be taking a curtain call after a 10th-century X-Factor performance.
Ajina Teppe
Southeast of Kurgonteppa is 7th- to 8th-century Ajina Teppe (Witches Hill), where in 1966 archaeologists unearthed a stupa, monastery and Central Asia’s largest surviving Buddha statue.
Hulbuk
Hulbuk was once the fourth-largest city in Central Asia. Its 9th- to 11th-century citadel and palace have been excavated, and the palace walls are now being dramatically rebuilt. It is at Kurbon Shaid.
Chor Gumbaz
In the northwest corner of town is the one-room Mazar-i-Chor Gumbaz whose four tin cupolas conceal some of Tajikistan’s most impressive old painted ceilings. If locked, ask at the house behind.
Hazrat
Half-hidden behind Soviet apartment slabs at 100-102 Lenin, the Hazrat-i-Shah Mosque forms an attracive site viewed from Tursunzade across a poets garden. The dinky five-level pepperpot minaret dates from 2002.
Botanical Gardens
The extensive Botanical Gardens are a favourite of canoodling couples. The east-central entrance gateway is designed in ancient Iranian style and dotted between the trees are beautifully carved wooden pavilions.
Hauz
Tucked behind the site of a giant new mosque, the 1910 Hauz-i-Sangin Mosque, has fine ceiling paintings and a dry octagonal hauz (pool) in the yard. The tiny newly renovated shrine-room is the tomb of Shah Fuzail ibn-Abbas.
Museum
A small museum at the Ancient Penjikent archaeological site chronicles the excavations but the best of the frescoes (some of them 15m long), sculptures, pottery and manuscripts were long ago carted off to Tashkent and St Petersburg.
Mir Sayid Ali Hamadani Mausoleum
Much revered, if looking essentially new with its golden domes and super-neat brickwork, this mausoleum and beautiful flower garden entombs 14th-century polymath Mir Sayid Ali Hamadani - the man credited for taking Islam to Kashmir.
First Truck Monument
A 1928 truck on a plinth just below the hydroelectric dam at the east end of Lein, commemmorates the opening of the Pamir Highway to Osh after over 20 years or effort. Microbus 1 passes the spot or you can glimpse it en route to Murgab..
Writers’ Union Building
Tajikistan’s Persian past is invoked in the facade of the Writers’ Union Building. It’s adorned like a medieval cathedral with saintly, sculpted-stone figures of Sadruddin Ayni, Omar Khayam, Firdausi and other writers from the Persian pantheon.
