Wender·Vista
Bukhara
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUzbekistan
on the Silk Road, in central Uzbekistan

Bukhara

— — a brick minaret Genghis Khan let stand.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A Silk Road city in central Uzbekistan, west of Samarkand and east of the Amu Darya. The old town is mostly the colour of old honey, brick on brick, much of it standing for more than a thousand years. The Kalyan Minaret has been the highest thing on the horizon since 1127; Genghis Khan, the story goes, reined his horse when he saw it and ordered it spared. The bricks still hold.

from the studio
Bukhara
— bring it home

Bukhara, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Bukhara

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Bukhara sits in the south-central oasis country of Uzbekistan, on the Zarafshan River about 270 kilometres west of Samarkand. Roughly 280,000 people live in the city. It was the capital of the Samanid Empire in the ninth and tenth centuries and a Silk Road waypoint between Persia, China, and the Indian subcontinent for more than a thousand years. UNESCO inscribed the Historic Centre of Bukhara on the World Heritage list in 1993, citing it as one of the most complete medieval urban fabrics in Central Asia.

— the stone

The Samanid Mausoleum, completed between 892 and 943 CE, is one of the oldest standing brick monuments in Central Asia, a perfect cube of patterned brickwork built for the founder of the Samanid dynasty. The Kalyan Minaret followed in 1127, rising about 47 metres in tapered courses of brick. When Genghis Khan sacked Bukhara in 1220 he is said to have spared the minaret after gazing up at it; the rest of the city was burned. The minaret has held through nine centuries of sun, wind, and occasional earthquakes.

— the visit

Bukhara International Airport sits five kilometres east of the centre, with direct flights from Tashkent and seasonal European links. The high-speed Afrosiyob train from Tashkent runs the route in about four hours, calling at Samarkand on the way. Most of the World Heritage core is walkable: Po-i-Kalyan, the Ark fortress, Lyabi-Hauz, and the covered trading domes form a connected loop of roughly two kilometres. April through early June and September through October are the comfortable seasons; July afternoons routinely exceed 38°C in the open courtyards.

— where
Uzbekistan · Bukhara, Bukhara Region
— elevation
225 m · 738 ft
— position
39.7747° N · 64.4286° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
1 km center
Po-i-Kalyan
religious complex
1 km NW
Ark of Bukhara
citadel
2 km W
Samanid Mausoleum
tenth-century tomb
1 km E
Lyabi-Hauz
pool and madrasa square
N
Bukhara
Po-i-Kalyan
Ark of Bukhara
Samanid Mausoleum
Lyabi-Hauz
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Bukhara — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The story, retold by later chroniclers, is that he looked up at the tower, his cap fell off as he tilted his head, and he ordered the minaret left standing. The rest of Bukhara was burned in 1220.

It was completed between 892 and 943 CE for Ismail Samani, founder of the Samanid dynasty. It is one of the oldest surviving brick monuments in Central Asia and an early surviving Islamic mausoleum.

Yes. The Historic Centre of Bukhara was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1993 for its largely intact medieval urban fabric, with more than 140 protected monuments inside the old city core.

By air to Bukhara International Airport from Tashkent or selected European cities, or by high-speed Afrosiyob train from Tashkent, which takes about four hours and stops at Samarkand on the way south.

A major trading and intellectual centre between Persia, China, and India for over a thousand years. Avicenna was born nearby in 980; the bazaars and caravanserais served goods moving in both directions across Central Asia.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. People who have stood in front of the Kalyan Minaret tend to carry the scale and the honey-coloured brick with them. A Medium or Large in glossy finish holds the colour well.

The piece carries warm sand, deep turquoise tile, and dust-blue sky. It works in Bohemian-modern, Library, and Antiquarian interiors with kilim rugs, brass lamps, and dark wood.

Yes. Uzbekistan has moved up steadily in design and travel press over the last several years, with Bukhara, Samarkand, and Khiva drawing collectors looking past the familiar Middle Eastern destinations.

A single Large reads well above a standard sofa. For longer walls, a 4-tile Mural opens the skyline horizontally; a 9-tile Mural carries the full Po-i-Kalyan view across an open wall.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The colour is fully infused into the ceramic surface and the finish resists steam, splashes, and routine cleaning.

A soft microfibre cloth and water handles routine dust. For stubborn marks, a drop of mild dish soap on the cloth. No abrasive pads or ammonia-based sprays.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is drawn by the studio's eye in Knoxville, Tennessee, and produced in-house. The image is not licensed from stock and the tile is finished under our roof.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.