The name Panjakent is derived from "panj" (five) and "kant" (settlements), meaning "five settlements". Rudaki, the founder of Persian-Tajik literature called "Adam of poets", was born in Panjakent.
The ruins of ancient Panjakent are situated in the Zarafshan Valley about 60 km east of Samarkand. Panjakant was the easternmost city of Sogdia. The site is being excavated from 1947 onwards. Excavations were led by Y.Yakubovsky, A.Belenitsky and B.Marshak of the Ermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Due to the long period of excavations, Panjakant has become one of the most thoroughly studied early medieval cities in all Asia. Excavations show that Panjakant was founded in the 5th cent and was inhabited until the 770s.
Panjakent is famous for the outstanding frescoes. Today, a few of them are exhibited in the small Rudaki Museum at Panjakent, but most of them are exhibited in Dushanbe and the Ermitage in St. Petersburg.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Panjakent
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Panjakent - updated May 2024
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Panjakent Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
