Large gothic cathedrals and castles are often the backdrop to popular gothic novels of the time. Interestingly enough, these structures were not built during the gothic period, and were not referred to as "gothic" at the time of Contruction. They were built hundreds of years prior to the popular surge of gothic literature and were referred to as being built in the "modern style." When I think of a gothic castle, I think of a dark and gloomy place. The architecture, however, came with different intent. "Before this style, in 1100s and 1200s, the buildings were mostly dark, cold, damp and moody. There was not much scope for light and air circulation. With the invention of the Gothic style, there was light inside the building and they were airy and pleasant" (Joseph). This style was also the response to needing more weight distribution for increasingly large structures. These "new techniques allowed them to build very tall structures, almost like touching...

A city in Uzbekistan, with a long cultural history. Because it was located on the Silk Road, a route of trading between the East and West, it holds an important significance in the relation of those two parts of the world.

Overall in Bukhara there was a lot of fleeces, silk, cotton, leather, carpets and clothing which were all traded from there to other countries, as well as gold embroidery and metal work. Many of these crafts are still practiced in the city today.

In Alexander Burnes' Travels into Bokhara it mentions the British fascination with Central Asia, as it’s one of the main journals that relating the experiences of travelers in that region. For Burnes, for example, it was “important to tally the gifts—and his...