Nuratau Mountains

Land of Alexander's spring and wild sheep

The Nuratau Mountains are an 'island' rising in the middle of the desert. The town of Nurata has the Chashma spring: legend says Alexander the Great built a fortress here, the spring never dries up, and its fish are considered sacred. The mountains are home to Severtzov's sheep — wild sheep with big horns found nowhere else in the world. Villages have guesthouses where children ride donkeys!

The Nuratau Range stretches 170 km between the Kyzylkum and the Mirzachul steppe, rising to 2,169 m (Hayotboshi); the westernmost spur of the Tian Shan and a geologically isolated 'island mountain'. Nurata town has the Chashma spring (400 l/s, always 19 °C, with marinka fish), ruins of Alexander's fortress (4th century BC) and the Chilustun mosque. The Nuratau Nut-Fruit Reserve (1975) protects Severtzov's argali (Ovis ammon severtzovi — endemic, 1,800 animals), wild walnut and juniper forests and over 700 plant species. Villages (Sentob, Hayat, Ukhum) run community ecotourism with guesthouses and mountain trails. Lake Aydarkul lies at its foot. Suzani embroidery and carpet-weaving traditions. Three hours by road from Samarkand.

Fun facts

• The Chashma spring gives 400 litres a second at 19 °C in summer and winter.
• Severtzov's argali lives only in the Nuratau Mountains.
• Nuratau is the westernmost tip of the Tian Shan.