Samarkand’s Silk Road past is woven into its present. At Registan Square, once a bustling marketplace, researcher Armida Nazaryan explains its role as a trade hub between East and West.

Bread is treated as a sacred staple in Uzbekistan. The BBC visits a bakery where 10,000 loaves of the fabled Samarkand bread are hand-rolled, individually stamped, and baked in a tandoor every day.