The Registan ensemble at the heart of Samarkand, restored to its original splendour, ranks first in Central Asia and among the greatest of all the grandiose and magnificent works of the Islamic world. Samarkand's central square, will make even the most architecture-weary visitor stand up and take note. Pausing for a minute (and a photo) on the raised viewing platform, the square unfolds below you. An almost infinite number of contrasting patterns swirl and dance on every surface but somehow never clash; the equally garishly patterned textiles worn by Uzbek women walking by appear almost as a continuation of the buildings themselves. The effect is completely mesmerising.
The legend has it that the square was a place of public executions from the 15th to the early 20th centuries, and they strew it with sand to absorb the blood shed there. Therefore, the square was named Registan: reg (‘sand’) and stan (‘place’) - ‘a sand place’. It was also a place where people, summoned with trumpets, gathered to listen to government decrees announced. Initially, at the beginning of the 15th century, the square did not have the grand madrasahs standing on its three sides today. (A madrasah is an Islamic college; also spelled madrasa, madarasaa, medresa, madrassa, madraza, madarsa, medrese.) They were built later, in the 15th and the 17th centuries. The Registan Square, paved with fired bricks and cobbles, and the architectural ensemble of its three edifices, masterpieces of medieval Islamic architecture, have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2001. The central building of the ensemble is Tilla-Qori Madrasah (also spelled Tilla-Kori, Tillya-Kori, Tilya-Kori, Tilla-Kori); Ulugbek Madrasah (also spelled Ulugh Beg, Ulughbeg, Ulugh-Beg) and Sher-Dor Madrasah (also spelled Sher Dor, Sherdor, Shir Dor, Shirdor) stand to the left and right of it respectively. The madrasahs date from different times. Ulugbek Madrasah, the earliest of them, was built in 1417 - 1420 by order of Ulugbek, Tamerlane’s grandson. Two centuries later, by order of Samarkand governor Yalangtush Bahadur (also spelled Yalangtush Bakhodur, Yalangtosh Bahodir) Sher-Dor Madrasah and Tilla-Qori Madrasah were built. They replaced the khanaka (a Sufi hospice and monastery; also spelled khanqah, khaniqah, khanqa, khaneqa, khanegah, khaneqah) and the caravanserai that had been built under Ulugbek. Each of the madrasahs features unique decorations: fascinating tile mosaics, delicate stone carvings, splendid gilt ceilings, etc. There was a period when Registan Square madrasahs stayed in a state of disrepair and were empty. In the 17th - 18th centuries, Samarkand was in crisis: the khanate’s capital had been moved to Bukhara, and the Silk Road highway passing through the city had ceased to function. At the end of the 18th century Samarkand came back to normal life again, with a lot of shops and other small facilities opened in the square. In 1875, the square was leveled and paved, and became the major city center again. Today various festivals, holidays and shows are held in the square. The madrasahs have been fully restored by now and are open for visitors. There is a number of shops offering local handicrafts housed in them
Ulugbek Madrasah was built by order of Ulugbek, Tamerlane’s grandson, in 1417-1420. Called a scientist on the throne, Ulugbek was a prominent astronomer of his times and an ardent promoter of education, science and art in his kingdom. The madrasah had turned out probably the most beautiful building he had ever ordered to erect. The façade of the structure facing the Registan Square features a magnificent 34.7-meter-high pishtaq portal (a projected rectangular portal) of the main iwan entrance (a vaulted space in it). The portal is covered with intricate geometric and star-shape mosaic designs, as well as bands of calligraphic inscriptions - all made of glazed tiles in prevalent shades of blue (as on most other Samarkand historic buildings). The either end of the façade has a minaret covered with geometric designs all over it too. There were minarets at every corner of the buildings but only these two and part of the northwestern rear one survive. The front minarets, affected by the elements, had been leaning quite badly until they were fixed in 1922 and 1965. The building is rectangular; there is also a smaller iwan entrance on each of the three other sides. Decorated with tile mosaics, the iwan opposite the main portal is the entrance to the domed mosque the madrasah incorporates. There were also lecture halls and two stories of 48 hujra dormitory cells along the square courtyard of the madrasah. During the 18th-century riots the second story and the four large domes of the lecture halls in the corners of the courtyard were removed: the local ruler was afraid that the insurgents might shoot at his palace from them. In the 1990s the second story, except for the domes, was restored
Sher-Dor Madrasah, which translates as ‘possessing lions’, was named after the mosaic motif on the upper part of its pishtaq portal. Reflecting each other on the right and left parts of the tympanum, it is a tiger-looking beast with a mane - some sort of a tiglon - pursuing some sort of a white fallow deer, and a segment of the personified sun over the tiglon’s back: either watching the hunting scene or just rising out. This mosaic motif is unique to medieval Islamic historic buildings, since depicting animals and people is against sharia. However, the designers of the madrasah seem to have tried to find a compromise: the creatures are fantastical, and the human face of the sun has both male and female features. Why Yalangtush Bahadur decided to use this motif, provoking Muslim clergy, is only a supposition. Some scholars say he wanted to highlight it because it was a popular Samarkand symbol of power, a Persian symbol Samarkand had borrowed. (Iran’s emblem before 1979 was a lion with the sun too.) By the way, today’s Samarkand seal features a snow leopard - another member of the large cats family... Whatever the reason was, the mosaic turned out to be a unique Central Asian piece of art and one of Uzbekistan’s identity emblems. Sher-Dor’s tiglon and the sun is even printed on the country’s 200-som banknote. Sher-Dor Madrasah was built on the site of the dilapidated khanaka right across from Ulugbek Madrasah in 1619 - 1635/36. Its portal was supposed to be a reflection of Ulugbek Madrasah portal, but they managed to achieve it only to a certain extent. The architect had not allowed for the two-meter elevation difference between the madrasahs (Sher-Dor’s site was higher), so they had to shorten the structure to be level with Ulugbek Madrasah. Sher-Dor Madrasah still features two impressive ribbed domes flanking its portal (Ulugbek’s once had such domes too.) The Sher-Dor Madrasahstructure is a rectangle in plan too, though shorter, for there is not a mosque at its end. In contrast with Ulugbek Madrasah, Sher-Dor hudjra cells are of one room only; the eastern façade features wall-hiegh three-quarter towers, not minarets. The side iwan niches facing the yard have multifaceted semi-spherical ceilings Ulugbek Madrasah has never had. Sher-Dor madrasah is also richly decorated with glazed bricks and tiles, forming various mosaics and intricate girikh geometrical patterns (‘Persian knots’) designed to look discernible from a distance. The friezes of the minarets and the dome drums are covered with ornamental inscriptions in Arabic. The upper parts of the hudjra cell arches, the interior of the lecture hall and many other surfaces of the madrasah feature very fine floral designs and arabesques - gilt and multicolored. Sher-Dor Madrasah has survived a few earthquakes, with considerable damages though. In the 1920s and 1960s it was restored completely. For almost three centuries the madrasah was quite a prominent Islamic college, although behind Ulugbek Madrasah in prestige. Despite its size, only around 40 students could study in it. Among its graduates was Shihabetdin Marjani, the famous Tatar theologian and a member of the Sufi order of Naqshbandi (1818-1889)
Yalangtush Bahadur ordered to build Tilla-Qori Madrasah (‘gilded’) on the site of Mirzo Caravanserai, also dilapidated, in 1646 - ten years after Sher-Dor Madrasah had been finished. They completed Tilla-Qori Madrasah in 1660, after the governor had already died. The madrasah had been designed to complete the architectural ensemble in the square, adorning its northern side. However, the architect did not plan to make it a replica of either of the other two madrasahs. Though its main portal is similar to the ones of its mates, it is smaller, while the two-story wings, each with a short minaret at the end, are longer and have arched niches of 16 hujra cells. The madrasah is square in plan, featuring a mosque with a portal and a large blue dome on the left of the main portal and behind it. They wanted the structure to serve as both a madrasah and a Friday communal prayer mosque. (The other Samarkand communal prayer mosques were in poor condition at the time.) The mosque is a cross in plan, featuring a beautifully decorated mihrab - a niche in the wall of a mosque that shows the direction Tilla-Qori Madrasahof Mecca Muslims should face when praying - and an 11-stair marble minbar pulpit. The interior walls and cupola of the mosque boast rich gilt ornaments; hence the name of the madrasah translates as ‘gilded’. The four-iwan yard is surrounded with hujra cells: the main façade wings have two stories of them; the other three sides have only one. The inside and outside yard facades are covered with brick and tile geometric, floral and inscriptional mosaic designs. At the beginning of the 19th century a strong earthquake destroyed the upper part of the main portal of the madrasah. It was restored during the reign of emir Khaidar (1800 - 1826), except for the mosaic decoration though. The restoration work on the décor and exterior ornaments continued and was completed in the 20th century: in the 1920s, 1930s, 1950s and 1970s. Today Tilla-Qori Madrasah houses the Registan restoration museum
Located to the east of Tilla-Qori Madrasah is the Mausoleum of the Shaybanids - a dynasty that ruled the Khanate of Bukhara and Khorezm from the early 16th to the late 17th centuries. The mausoleum has a large number of tombstones, the oldest of which dates from the 16th century. Behind Sher-Dor Madrasah stands Chorsu Trading Dome, evidence that Registan was the center of trade in medieval Samarkand. This hexagonal domed structure was built in the 15th century and rebuilt in the early 18th century. The building was restored in 2005; they had to remove three meters of soil to open it all above the foundations. Now Chorsu Trading Dome houses an art gallery where works of Uzbek artists and sculptors are exhibited
It has been long since the moment of the first erection on the Registan Square up to now- already 6 centuries. In the end of the 17th century, Samarkand had gone through severe economic decline. The status of the capital city passed to Bukhara and merchants of the Great Silk Road would keep away from the city. There were only around 1000 families left in it at that time, and once wonderful buildings of madrassah were a shelter for wild animals. It was only in 1875 when Samarkand regained its past trading significance and the Registan Square was leveled and bridged. However, in 1918 Samarkand faced changes again. The Soviet rule prohibited activity of any madrassah as religious schools. During this time, erections endured many natural damaging factors: earthquakes, harsh weather conditions. The larger part of the cladding of the building and the painting décor were lost. Nevertheless, it was the Soviet rule that had given the order to restore the entire Registan and give it the status of the significant historical monument on the Great Silk Road. Restoration works had lasted many years and finished just before the fall of the Soviet Union. Scientists literally had to collect the whole interior and the exterior of the buildings and smaller façade fragments, restoring all elements. The look that we can see on the Registan today is painstaking work of hundreds of restorers. If there was no decision taken during the Soviet rule to restore the unique monument, this beautiful ancient sight would never stand in front of our eyes. Today different concerts, celebrations and other bright events of the city and the Republic are held on the Registan Square. Thousands of tourists’ daily flow to the square in order to see the grand beauty. Registan is a valuable gift that we had inherited from our ancestors, embodying the entire charm of the eastern architecture
| 1 Person(s) | Up to 1 Person(s) | € 105 |
| 2 Person(s) | Up to 3 Person(s) | € 55 |
| 4 Person(s) | Up to 6 Person(s) | € 45 |
As a conqueror there are few that are Tamerlane’s equal, both in territory and legacy left. Today one can visit his tomb in the beautifully reconstructed Gur-Emir Mausoleum (1404-1405, 15-17 centuries) and reflect on his life while looking at the largest piece of jade (greenstone) in the world
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