Konigil Paper Mill

Samarkand paper, made from mulberry bark, was exported across the Islamic world from the eighth century and the technique died out entirely, and the Meros workshop at Konigil village rebuilt it from documents in the 1990s: bark is stripped and boiled, pounded by a water-driven hammer on the stream, formed into sheets and polished with agate. The whole sequence is demonstrated. A water mill and gardens surround the workshop.

What you actually see

• The water hammer - the stream-driven mechanism pounding the mulberry bark.
• The sheet forming - the pulp lifted and pressed into sheets by hand.
• The agate polishing - the stone burnishing that gives the paper its surface.
• The revival story - a technique rebuilt from documents after dying out entirely.

When to go

April to June and September to October are the comfortable months. Demonstrations run through the day. Summer heat is severe.

Honest expectations

The visit ends in a shop and paper products are expensive. Demonstrations are short and repeated for each group. It is a taxi ride from Samarkand with no public transport.

Nearby

Samarkand is west, and Urgut is south.