Around The World In 80 Treasures (2005) BBC

Episode 6: Uzbekistan to Syria

Episode 6: Uzbekistan to Syria

41. Samarkand, Uzbekistan: Tiles of Samarkand

42. Bukhara, Uzbekistan: The trading domes

43. Baku, Azerbaijan: Fire Temple and Monastery at Surkhany

44. Isfahan, Iran: Imam mosque in Naghsh-i Jahan

45. Shiraz, Iran: Persian rug

46. Kermanshah Province, Iran: Behistun Inscription. The "Rosetta Stone" of cuneiform, with inscriptions in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian, deciphered in the 1800s.

47. Fars Province, Iran: Persepolis, the ruins of the ancient Persian capital

48. Damascus, Syria: Al-Hamidiyah Souk

Around the World in 80 Treasures

Around the World in 80 Treasures is a 10 episode art and travel documentary series by the BBC, presented by Dan Cruickshank, and originally aired in February, March, and April 2005. The title is a reference to Around the World in Eighty Days, the classic adventure novel by Jules Verne.



In this series, Cruickshank takes a five month world tour visiting his choices of the eighty greatest man-made treasures, including buildings and artifacts. His tour takes him through 34 countries and 6 of the 7 continents (he does not visit Antarctica).



In addition to seeing some of the world's greatest treasures, Cruickshank tries many different kinds of food including testicle, brain, and insects. His means of transportation included airplanes, trains, camel, donkey, foot, bicycle, scooter, hang glider, and boats.



A tie-in book of the same title was also published, written as a journal during the trip and containing much behind-the-scenes detail on the making of the programme in addition to Cruikshank's reflections on the treasures themselves.



Cruickshank's fondness of architecture is evident, with many of his chosen treasures being buildings or other man-made structures. The official BBC DVD of the series was released on 19 May 2008. Licenses for DVD releases have been sold to many countries around the world.