Herat

Flowering

In Herat if you stretch out your feet you are sure to kick a poet — Ali Sher Nawa

In the 14th and 15th centuries, under the Timurid dynasty, it became known as the "Florence of Asia".

Still a major cultural attractions, a mosque, tomb and madrassa complex, built in 1417 by Gohar Shad, daughter of a Chugtai noble, one of the Mongol hordes. Called the "most incomparable woman". she restored many buildings in Herat. Her grave reads "The Bilkis of All Time"; Bilkis is the Islamic name for the Queen of Sheba. While Herat is conservative for women's rights, she has been called Afghanistan's first feminist.