VR Time Tour

سمرقندSamarkand · Bukhara · Khiva · Shahrisabz

Stand in Samarkand in 1420

Put on a headset and walk through Uzbekistan's historic cities as they looked when they were built, while the headset itself tells you what happened on the spot where you stand.

Join the waitlistSee the tours
VR Time Tour headset
Sites
9
Cities
4
Per tour
20–25 min
Narration
Uzbek, Russian, English

Put it on

The city around you, centuries ago

Each tour is one place at one moment in its history. You look around, walk the square, and the headset tells you what you're seeing.

1220 · Bukhara

The minaret that was spared

The Mongol army takes the city and much of it burns. The Kalyan minaret, already a century old, is left standing. It is still there today.

بخارا

1405 · Samarkand

Timur comes home to Gur-e-Amir

The ribbed dome was finished a year earlier as a tomb for his grandson. Now Timur is laid to rest under it.

گور امیر

1420 · Samarkand

The Registan has one madrasah

Ulugh Beg's madrasah has just opened. The two that face it today won't be built for another two hundred years.

ریگستان

Nine places, each in its own century

Every tour is built from archaeological plans, old photographs and the buildings as they stand now. Ordered by when they were built.

  1. 1127

    Kalyan Minaret Bukhara

    منار کلان

    Built by the Karakhanid ruler Arslan Khan, 46 metres of patterned brick. The story goes that Genghis Khan looked up at it in 1220 and ordered it spared.

    Tour 20 min

  2. 11th–19th c.

    Shah-i-Zinda Samarkand

    شاه زنده

    A street of mausoleums climbing a hill, built over eight centuries around the shrine of Qusam ibn Abbas. Most of its tilework dates from Timur and Ulugh Beg.

    Tour 25 min

  3. 1380

    Ak-Saray Palace Shahrisabz

    آق سرای

    Timur's palace in his home town. Only the stumps of the entrance arch survive, still nearly 40 metres high. In the headset you see the whole arch.

    Tour 20 min

  4. 1399–1404

    Bibi-Khanym Mosque Samarkand

    بی‌بی خانم

    Begun after Timur's campaign in India and built in a hurry for its size. It started to crack within years, and the earthquake of 1897 brought much of it down.

    Tour 25 min

  5. 1403–1404

    Gur-e-Amir Samarkand

    گور امیر

    Built as a tomb for Timur's grandson Muhammad Sultan. Timur was buried here in 1405, under a block of dark green jade.

    Tour 20 min

  6. 1417–1420

    Ulugh Beg Madrasah Samarkand

    مدرسهٔ الغ بیگ

    The first building on the Registan as we know it. Ulugh Beg, Timur's grandson and an astronomer, is said to have taught here himself.

    Tour 25 min

  7. 1420s

    Ulugh Beg Observatory Samarkand

    رصدخانهٔ الغ بیگ

    A three-storey observatory around a stone meridian arc about 40 metres in radius. Its star catalogue, the Zij-i Sultani, lists 1,018 stars.

    Tour 20 min

  8. 1619–1660

    Sher-Dor and Tilya-Kori Samarkand

    شیردار و طلاکاری

    Two more madrasahs close the square. Sher-Dor's portal shows tigers chasing deer under a sun with a human face.

    Tour 20 min

  9. 1851–1855

    Itchan Kala Khiva

    ایچان قلعه

    The walled inner town of Khiva. The Kalta Minor minaret was meant to be the tallest in Central Asia and stopped at about 29 metres.

    Tour 25 min

Bukhara, 1220. Reconstruction for the tourShah-i-Zinda, Samarkand. Reconstruction for the tourAk-Saray, Shahrisabz, as it stands todayBibi-Khanym, Samarkand, 1404. Reconstruction for the tourGur-e-Amir, Samarkand, 1405. Reconstruction for the tourRegistan, Samarkand, 1420. Reconstruction for the tourUlugh Beg Observatory, 1420s. Reconstruction for the tourRegistan, Samarkand, 1660Itchan Kala, Khiva, 1855
Bukhara, 1220. Reconstruction for the tour

The sound comes from the headset

No headphones, phone or tour guide. Speakers built into the headset tell the story and fill the space around you with the sounds of the era: the bazaar, caravan bells, hammers in a workshop. Turn toward a sound and you'll see where it comes from.

  • Narration in Uzbek, Russian or English
  • Spatial sound: you hear where it comes from
  • Each scene has the sounds of its own era
Registan, 1420 · what you hear
  1. Narration beginsahead
  2. The bazaarleft
  3. Call to prayer from the madrasahahead
  4. Caravan bellsbehind

How a session works

You pick a time, we fit the headset and stay with you. No setup, no account, no phone needed.

Prices are coming soon

  • One tour

    A single site, 20 to 25 minutes, for one person.

  • City route

    Every site in one city back to back, about an hour, with a break between tours.

  • Schools and groups

    Up to 20 headsets at once. We bring them to your school, museum or hotel.

Questions people ask

Do I need my own VR headset?

No. We bring the headset, fit it for you and stay with you for the whole session.

Do I need headphones?

No. The narration and the sounds around you both come from speakers built into the headset.

Which languages is the tour in?

Every tour is narrated in Uzbek, Russian or English. You choose the language at the start of the session.

Is it suitable for children?

Yes, from about 10 years old. School groups of up to 20 can tour together.

How accurate are the reconstructions?

They are based on archaeological plans, old photographs and the buildings as they stand today. Where the sources are silent, the narration says so.

When does booking open?

Soon. Join the waitlist and you'll be among the first to hear about sessions and prices.

Booking opens soon

Leave your contact and we'll write when the first sessions open