Bamyan, Afghanistan

Bamyan, Afghanistan
Bamyan (Persian: بامیان) is the capital of Bamyan Province and the largest town in Hazarajat, central Afghanistan. It has a population of about 61,863 people, and is approximately 240 kilometres north-west of Kabul. It is famous for the ancient part of the town, where the Buddhas of Bamyan stood for almost two millennia until dynamited by the Taliban in 2001. Recently Bamyan was accredited as home to the world's oldest oil paintings.[1]