The site of Vardanze is considered one of the most prominent monuments of the region.
The site of Vardanze is considered one of
the most prominent monuments of the region.
In the early Middle Ages, it was the
capital, albeit of a small, but rich and strong principality of Obavia. The
rulers of Vandanze (Vardanhudats) competed on equal terms with the kings of
Bukhara – Bukharkhudats. An-Narshahi mentions Vardana in the Сhapter 6 of the book.
According to the description, Vardana was a large town with a powerful
fortress, which in ancient times was the residence of the kings, but at the
time of the historian himself, the residence was no longer there. Vardana was
founded by Malik (king) Shahpur (Shapur). It was located on the border with
Turkestan and therefore was of great importance as a strategic, commercial and
industrial point. A weekly bazaar was held here, and the famous
"zandaniychi" type fabric was made – a type of fabric valued as high
as the Chinese silk. Obaviya was located on the border with the nomadic steppe
and those agricultural territories along where the main Bukhara-Samarkand route
of the Great Silk Road – "Shahrokh" ("Main Way") passed.
The citadel of the monument, which for
centuries was the residence of the early medieval principality of Vardanhudats,
was represented by a palace hall with a rectangular layout with the remains of
paintings on the base of the walls.
The archeological site is located in the
village of Vardanzi in the Shafirkan district of the Bukhara region. The
settlement consists of a citadel and a shahristan; at the foot of the hill
there is a mausoleum where St. Burka Sarmast was buried. A memorial mosque was
built there later. It is a place of pilgrimage for the local population. The
area of the surviving ruins of the shahristan is 76 hectares. This includes the
7910 sq. m Vardona - "Orkoni Vardonze" citadel, 70 × 108 m on the
outside, 33 × 70 m on the inside, 15-16 m high.
The following data was collected as a
result of documenting the site within the framework of drafting the nomination
dossier "The Great Silk Road: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor":
§ 2079
photographs (including detailed aerial photographs of facades and roofs of
architectural elements, perspective and artistic aerial photographs, panoramic
photographs, as well as photographs revealing visual points in the context of
the surrounding urban environment at the level of the human eye);
§ 2
video fly-overs, conveying a complete picture of the volume of the monument and
the town-planning (urban) context;
As a result, the following has been
obtained:
§ detailed
orthophotomosaics and 3D-model of the territory of the monument, where the
architectural, infrastructural, household and other elements are available for
detailed visual examination;
§ digital
elevation model (DEM), which allows the most complete assessment of the
features of the urban and natural landscape, as well as obtain a detailed
topographic map of the territory;
§ detailed
3D models of architectural objects, fully transmitting the entire spectrum of
visual perception, both of the object as a whole, and of its individual
elements (high accuracy of shape and geometry in real scale with georeference,
high-resolution texture that allows for visual assessment of the state of
conservation of minor details, etc.)
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