Uzbekistan really is a hidden gem that needs to be explored.
Before Copernicus there was Ulugh Beg (1394-1449), who built a giant sextant as an astronomical observatory in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Skilled in mathematics, Ulugh Beg was able to calculate Earth's axal tilt as well as the period of Earth's sidereal and tropical years. Ulugh Beg also assembled a catalog of 1018 stars, building upon the work of Ptolemy. The observatory was destroyed in 1449 but rediscovered by Russian archaeologist Vassily Vyatkin in 1908.