Site description

The dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 has eight channels, with 680 dams, were built during the X—XIII centuries in the Samarkand

Samarkand

Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...

 area, and only 4 dame of such scale preserved. The dam of Khanbandi was built at Oslan in Pasttaga gorge. The upper length is 57.75m, the lower is 24.35m, and the altitude is 15.25m. It was constructed from cut granite slabs based on water—resistant solution. Nine cone—shaped holes, which were made in different altitudes, regulated the water flow. The base of the dam is 4 times thicker than the top. The length of the created reservoir is 1.5 km., the width is 52 m. near the dam, and 200m. near the gorge.

World Heritage Status