Registan
With the exception of the capital Tashkent, which acts as a transportation hub, historical Samarkand is frequently the first stop for travelers to Uzbekistan. The two-hour high-speed train ride from Tashkent to Samarkand is half the time it takes to drive between the two cities.
Amir Timur, a 14th-century great general who constructed an empire encompassing Central Asia and Persia by slaughtering 17 million people, made Samarkand his capital. He was also an arts patron, catching artists along the road to leave a legacy in stone. The poor dead has been forgotten, but the gorgeous city has not.
At the heart of Samarkand lies the Registan complex of mosques and madrasahs (Islamic schools), which is covered with ceramic tiles and presided over by a clearly un-Islamic lion. From here, you can visit the massive Bibi Khanum mosque or the stunning Gur Emir mausoleum of Timur himself, which inspired the Taj Mahal, which was erected by Timur's descendants of the Mughal dynasty.
The Registan was the commercial heart of medieval Samarkand. Under the auspices of Ulugh Beg, the astronomer-king and Timur's grandson, it also became Samarkand's educational center in the 15th century, when he built a magnificent madrasah (the building to your left from the viewing platform) where he taught astronomy. The Ulugh Beg madrasah was considered at the time one of the top universities in the Muslim world.
The inherent magnificence of Ulugh Beg's architecture and ceramic tile coating balances its magnitude. Glazed green, turquoise, yellow, and blue are highlighted on a golden-brown background. Floral designs and Kufic calligraphy adorn mosaic and majolica panels. The centerpiece is a honeycomb muqarnas (a vaulted form of Islamic architecture) decoration that dazzles with its mathematical complexity.
One of the inscriptions glorifying the adjacent Shir Dor (containing tigers) madrasah, built by Governor Yalangtush between 1619 and 1636, reads: "Never in all the centuries will an artist, thought's acrobat, even with the bow of phantasy, scale the forbidden peaks of this minaret." His architects attempted to emulate Ulugh Beg in scale and majesty, despite the fact that the Koranic ban against symmetry prohibited a precise mirror-image.
Shir Dor's décor is not as polished as that of the Ulugh Beg madrasah from the 15th century, which was the golden age of Timurid architecture. Nonetheless, the structure's harmony of vast and tiny chambers, superb mosaic décor, monumentality, and effective symmetry all position it among Samarkand's finest architectural masterpieces.
The lions and human-faced sun guarding the gateway represent a remarkable return to pre-Islamic Zoroastrian symbolism, reminiscent of Bukhara's Divanbegi madrassah.
Yalangtush had a third madrasah built with a 75-meter-long extended facade to encompass the plaza in pleasant symmetry. By this time, the Bibi Khanum mosque was in ruins, and Tillya Kari was set to become the city's major mosque. Its name means "the golden one," and its spectacular interior is swathed in gold foil, in addition to a lavish mosaic feast mirroring the colors of the Shir Dor.
The Registan is so massive that it's worth visiting multiple times. Visit at different times of the day if possible. This will help you to notice various nuances and the play of light and shade in the muqarnas. The facility is open every day from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., and admission is 30,000 som ($3.90).
City: Samarkand
