BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 20. On August 20, as part of a press tour to Uzbekistan, Azerbaijani journalists visited the Imam al-Bukhari tourist complex, located near Samarkand.
Twenty representatives from Azerbaijan’s leading media outlets are participating in the press tour. Among the participants is Emin Aliyev, editor-in-chief of the Trend International News Agency.
The press tour participants toured the modern complex, created to study and promote the scholarly legacy of the outstanding Islamic scholar and one of the most renowned hadith scholars, Imam Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari (810–870).
The journalists paid particular attention to the architectural features and modern infrastructure of the complex, which was built to accommodate pilgrims and foreign tourists. Specifically, the complex includes a mosque with a capacity of up to 10,000 worshippers, four minarets 75 meters high, and a museum complex consisting of nine pavilions.
During the tour, representatives of the Azerbaijani media received information about the life and scholarly work of Imam al-Bukhari, his contribution to Islamic theology, and the significance of his seminal work, ''Sahih al-Bukhari'', considered one of the most authoritative collections of hadiths in the Sunni Islamic tradition.
At the meeting, it was noted that following a large-scale renovation, the complex has become a major spiritual, educational, and tourist center. The complex now offers facilities not only for pilgrimage but also for the study of Islamic cultural and scientific heritage.
As part of the project, hotels, family guesthouses, service areas, and parking lots have also been built. The complex’s capacity has been increased to 65,000 visitors per day.
A visit to the Imam al-Bukhari Complex was one of the stops on a press tour aimed at familiarizing representatives of the Azerbaijani media with Uzbekistan’s historical, cultural, tourist, and modern potential.
