# Siab Bazaar, Samarkand > Siab (Siyob) Bazaar is Samarkand's oldest and biggest market, right behind the Bibi-Khanym Mosque: round Samarkand bread, dried fruit, nuts, halva, spices and craft stalls. Entry is **free** and an hour is enough to wander. Unofficially it opens Tuesday to Sunday from early morning to early evening and **closes on Mondays** — go in the morning. Web page: https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand/siab-bazaar - City: [Samarkand](https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand), Uzbekistan - YesGo score: 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h - With kids: Fine with kids - Entry: Free - Opening hours: Tuesday–Sunday, 5:00–7:00 to 19:00 — no official schedule - Closed: Mondays, according to nearly all sources - Evenings: Open until midnight, per the Uzbek tourism committee (September 2026); which stalls stay open isn't stated - Best time: Morning, before 11:00 — fresh bread, less heat, fewer people - Payment: Cash in som; only some stalls take cards - Address: 8 Bibi-Khanym St, corner of Islam Karimov St (formerly Tashkent St) - From the Registan: ≈ 1 km, 13–15 minutes on foot - Time needed: ≈ 1 hour to wander, 1.5–2 hours with shopping and lunch - Coordinates: 39.66189, 66.97992 - Facts checked: 30.10.2026 ## Key facts - **Oldest** — and largest market in Samarkand (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Orexca) - **7+ ha** — of market area (other sources say about 5 ha) (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Tonkosti; Advantour and Eurasia Travel give 5 ha) - **“Black water”** — the meaning of “Siyob” in Persian and Tajik — after the district and the stream nearby (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Sputnik8) - **Triple arch** — at the main entrance, faced with blue majolica (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Advantour) - **7 covered halls** — of stalls, plus separate buildings for meat, bread and sweets (source: English and Russian Wikipedia) - **17+ kinds** — of Samarkand bread in the bread row (source: Advantour; Eurasia Travel) - **Dehqon market** — a farmers’ market selling mostly produce grown in Uzbekistan (source: Advantour; Eurasia Travel) - **Craft rows** — where woodcarvers, smiths and copper engravers work in front of buyers (source: Russian Wikipedia; Tonkosti) - **≈ 500 m** — to Shah-i-Zinda and the Hazrat Khizr Mosque; ≈ 1 km to the Registan (source: English and Russian Wikipedia) - **Siyob bozori** — the Uzbek name, used on maps and signs (source: English Wikipedia) ## Siab Bazaar opening hours There's no official timetable, and each row keeps its own hours. Unofficially, Siab Bazaar opens **Tuesday to Sunday** from 5:00–7:00 until about 19:00 and is **closed on Mondays**. Bread and meat sellers start first; souvenir stalls open closer to 9:00. By late afternoon the choice thins out. In September 2026 Uzbekistan's tourism committee announced longer hours across central Samarkand and said Siyob Bazaar now stays open **until midnight**. It didn't say which rows trade after dark, so shop for food in the morning and keep the evening for a stroll and dinner. > **Don't plan it for a Monday** Almost every source lists Monday as the day off, even though the market publishes no schedule. Put the bazaar on any other morning. On the first days of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha (Ramazon and Qurbon Hayit) some rows may not open either. ## Is Siab Bazaar worth visiting? Yes — it's the easiest look at everyday Samarkand you'll get, and it costs nothing. It sits on the same walk as the [Registan](https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand/registan) and the [Bibi-Khanym Mosque](https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand/bibi-khanym-mosque), so it barely adds time to your day. This is a working market where locals buy bread, meat and vegetables, not a souvenir street. Skip it if you've just done a big bazaar like Chorsu in Tashkent and only have one day in Samarkand: the monuments matter more. Otherwise give it an hour, ideally with lunch. ## What to buy at Siab Bazaar - **Samarkand non** — dense, glossy round bread stamped with a pattern in the middle. The bread row has more than 17 kinds, and the loaves travel well. - **Dried fruit and nuts** — apricots, raisins, figs, prunes, dried melon, almonds, walnuts and salted apricot kernels. The classic thing to take home. - **Sweets** — navat (crystallised sugar), halva in dozens of flavours, parvarda and pashmak candy floss. - **Spices** — cumin, red pepper, barberries, turmeric and ready plov mixes. Cumin and barberries are the most useful gift for anyone who cooks. - **Fresh fruit** in summer and autumn — grapes, melons, pomegranates, figs and persimmons. Freshly squeezed pomegranate juice is easy to find. - **Crafts and textiles** — skullcaps (do‘ppi), suzani embroidery, ceramics and carved boxes; some craftsmen work right at their stalls. - **Lunch** — the cafés around the market serve plov, samsa, lagman, shashlik and manti. > **Bring cash in som and haggle** Most stalls take **cash in Uzbek som** only; a few bigger shops accept Visa or Mastercard. ATMs at banks near the Registan dispense som, and bank exchange offices change US dollars and euros — carry small notes. The first price for a foreigner is often high, so haggle calmly and check what the price is for: per kilo, per pack or per piece. ## How to get to Siab Bazaar from the Registan 1. From Registan Square, walk north-east along the pedestrian Islam Karimov Street (formerly Tashkent Street) — about 1 km. 2. After about 10 minutes the Bibi-Khanym Mosque appears on your left; the bazaar starts right behind it, through a triple arch with blue tiles. The whole walk takes 13–15 minutes. 3. By bus: the stops by the market are “Shodiyona — Siyob bozori” and “Siyob bozori”; check the route number in the Yandex Go app or ask the driver. 4. From Samarkand railway station, where the fast Afrosiyob trains from Tashkent arrive, or from the airport, take a Yandex Go taxi — 15–20 minutes. Say “Siyob bozori”. 5. Afterwards it's 500 m east to the [Hazrat Khizr Mosque](https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand/hazrat-khizr-mosque) and [Shah-i-Zinda](https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand/shah-i-zinda). ## What Siab Bazaar is Siab is Samarkand's main market and, according to Wikipedia, the city's largest and oldest. It fills a block of the old town directly behind the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, whose walls stand by the main southern gate. The name comes from the historic Siyob district and the stream that runs past it; in Persian and Tajik it means “black water”. People have traded here for centuries, since the Silk Road, but there's no reliable founding date — guidebooks range from first mentions in the 9th century to “almost 2,000 years”, so we don't give one. Today's halls are modern; the gateway is a triple arch faced with blue majolica. > **Best photos** Shoot the blue triple arch at the entrance and the Bibi-Khanym domes, visible from the market square. Morning light is softest and the rows are quieter. Ask stallholders before close-ups — most are happy to pose with a loaf — and be discreet in the meat hall. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] It isn't Monday - [ ] Going in the morning, before 11:00 - [ ] Cash in som, small notes - [ ] A bag for bread and dried fruit - [ ] Phone and wallet in a zipped pocket - [ ] Water and a hat — the halls get hot in summer ## Siab Bazaar vs Bibi-Khanym and the Registan | | Siab Bazaar | Bibi-Khanym Mosque | Registan | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | The city's main market | Timur's congregational mosque | Square with three madrasas | | Entry | Free | Paid | Paid | | Time needed | ≈ 1 h | ≈ 40 min | 1.5–2 h | | Best time | Morning, not Monday | Daytime | Morning and evening | | Shopping | Food and crafts, haggling | A few stalls | Shops in the madrasa cells | All three are on one pedestrian street — Registan, then Bibi-Khanym, then the bazaar — an easy half-day on foot. Buy sweets and bread at the bazaar rather than at stalls by the monuments. ## Samarkand's markets compared Every market in Samarkand rated by YesGo. - [Siab Bazaar](https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand/siab-bazaar) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free entry ## The old town on foot in half a day The Registan in the morning, then Bibi-Khanym and the bazaar with lunch, then Hazrat Khizr and Shah-i-Zinda. YesGo fits in the timing and walks. 1. [Registan](https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand/registan) — YesGo score 57/100 (Yes, go) · 1 h 30 min · 100,000 UZS for foreign visitors 2. [Bibi-Khanym Mosque](https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand/bibi-khanym-mosque) — YesGo score 49/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 40 min · ≈ UZS 75,000, unofficial 3. [Siab Bazaar](https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand/siab-bazaar) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free entry 4. [Hazrat Khizr Mosque](https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand/hazrat-khizr-mosque) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free, donations welcome 5. [Shah-i-Zinda](https://yesgo.io/uzbekistan/samarkand/shah-i-zinda) — YesGo score 46/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 15 min · ≈ 50,000 som for foreigners ## Good to know Siab, Siyob and Siob are the same market. Don't confuse it with Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent, or with Samarkand's own Chorsu, an old trading dome by the Registan now used for exhibitions. The Shodiyona shopping centre and the Siab supermarket next door sell clothes and household goods, not market produce. ## Tips - Start at the bread row early — the loaves are hottest just after dawn. - Taste before you buy; dried-fruit and halva sellers will offer. If you like it, ask for it from that same tray. - Don't buy at the first stall — walk a couple of rows and compare prices. - Ask for dried fruit to be packed tightly for the flight, and carry bread in a paper bag rather than plastic. - Make it your lunch stop: plov and samsa at the market cafés, with Bibi-Khanym two minutes away. - The separate nasvay hall sells chewing tobacco — it's not a sweet or a souvenir. ## Questions ### What are Siab Bazaar's opening hours? There's no official schedule. Unofficially it's Tuesday to Sunday, from 5:00–7:00 until about 19:00. Since September 2026 the tourism committee says it stays open until midnight, though not every row trades late. ### Is Siab Bazaar open on Monday? Probably not — almost every source lists Monday as the day off. Plan another day. ### What should I buy at Siab Bazaar? Samarkand non bread, dried fruit and nuts, halva and navat, plov spices, skullcaps, suzani and ceramics. ### Is Siab Bazaar worth visiting? Yes, for an hour: it's free, lively and on the same walk as the Registan and Bibi-Khanym. Skip it only if your Samarkand day is very short. ### Can I pay by card at Siab Bazaar? Only at some shops. Bring cash in som in small notes; ATMs near the Registan dispense som. ### Do you have to haggle? On dried fruit, spices and souvenirs, yes — it's expected. Bread and meat usually sell at a fixed price. ### How do I get to Siab Bazaar from the Registan? Walk north-east along pedestrian Islam Karimov Street past the Bibi-Khanym Mosque — 13–15 minutes. ### How long do you need at Siab Bazaar? About an hour to look around, 1.5–2 hours with shopping and lunch. ### What's the best time to visit? Weekday or weekend mornings before 11:00, except Monday: fresh bread, less heat and fewer people. ## How we checked The market has no official website or published schedule, so hours and the closing day are unofficial and marked “verifying”. Outlook Traveller, Trip.com, Komoot, Dook International and Sputnik8 all list Monday as closed, but Sputnik8's own table says “daily 8:00–20:00” and Advantour says the bazaar “practically never sleeps”. Opening time is given as 5:00 or 7:00, so we show both. The midnight closing comes from a September 2026 tourism committee announcement on gov.uz, which doesn't say which rows stay open. The area differs: Wikipedia, Sputnik8 and Tonkosti give more than 7 ha, Advantour and Eurasia Travel 5 ha; we show both. Guidebooks disagree on the bazaar's age (9th century, “almost 2,000 years”), so we give no number. ## Sources - English and Russian Wikipedia: Siyob Bazaar; Wikidata Q13534449 - Uzbekistan Tourism Committee (Uzbektourism), gov.uz: extended opening hours in Samarkand, September 2026 - Orexca: Siab Bazaar, Samarkand - Advantour: Siab Bazaar, Samarkand - Eurasia Travel: Siab Bazaar - Sputnik8: Siab Bazaar — hours, transport and what to buy - Tonkosti: Siab Bazaar - Outlook Traveller: 5 Old Bazaars in Uzbekistan; Dook International — hours and closing day --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.