10/8: Samarkand, Uzbekistan: Remarkable Registan, Gur-i-Mir & Astounding Aksaray Mausoleum

We'd arrived in the 2,500 year old Silk Road city of Samarkand late the night before from Bukhara excited to visit the place Alexander the Great is quoted as saying in 329 BC, "Everything I have heard about Samarkand is true except that it is even more beautiful than I had imagined." Sogdian wall murals recovered from Afrosiab in the northeast part of the city depict the Silk Road era when Tang China craved Samarkand's golden peaches. The cosmopolitan city embraced Zoroastrian fire worship and even became a Nestorian Christian bishopric until the Arab armies arrived and changed everything in 741 AD. Samarkand's fame and allure for tourists is the Registan, the complex of spectacular blue domes and mammoth building projects created by Timur, the 14th century ruler who led military campaigns in Western, South and Central Asia. Timur forcibly relocated artisans from across his empire to embellish his capital.

Catching our fist sight of the bright blue through the trees just minutes from our hotel almost gave us chills as we knew it was just one part of the Registan. 

In the other Silk Road cities of Khiva and Bukhara, there hadn't been such a profusion of exquisite tile work on the madrassas and mosques as we saw as we neared the Registan. In addition, the geometric-shaped mosaics were very different. 

This was our first real cold spell of the trip as temperatures had dropped about 40 degrees from Bukhara so we were both bundled up in all the cold weather gear we'd brought with us but it was still darned cold.

One of the tour books I had read described the Registan or Sandy Place as "without a doubt the single most dramatic architectural ensemble in Central Asia. Three towering madrassas, saturated from head to toe in mesmerizing tile work, rise around open ground to form an irresistible symmetry." 

On the site of an old market, Ulug Beg from 1417-1420 built the first madrassa flanked by two 109 ft columns. The madrassa portal was adorned with patterns of ten-pointed stars symbolizing the sky and astronomy. We also noticed its geometric patterns and sublime mosaic tile work but we waited to visit it later.

Directly across from it was the Shir Dor Madrassa erected as its mirror piece two centuries later. Its name is derived from the mosaic lions or shir that adorned the corners of the portal even though they looked far more like tigers! Rather than just walking right through front doors as we had seen in the madrassas in the other cities, the entrance here was designed so you entered through the lattice doorway which was essentially a false doorway as you then could only turn left or right on either side of a partial wall to gain entrance to the courtyard. The reason: to keep out noise because the courtyard was behind that short wall!

Even already having seen phenomenal tile work in both Khiva and Bukhara, the sheer volume of the masterpieces that made up the three buildings in the Registan made almost the sights in the other cities pale in comparison.

The interior courtyard of the Shir Dor was just as beautiful as its exterior. The ribbed turquoise domes, though, just blew our minds. 

The former students' cells had been converted into spots for vendors to sell scarves, suzanis, wood pieces, and other souvenirs. But we were all shopped out having bought some lovely items in Bukhara. Plus, it was too cold to stand and look at anything that day!

A student's accommodation during the 19th century:

Attached to the madrassa was a building used as a Carpet Museum and shop. 

Our necks began to hurt a bit as we craned them for so long staring at the ceilings and upper walls with our mouths agape. What drew us particularly was the rich copper color as we hadn't seen that before in any of the other cities in Uzbekistan.

The carpets were stunning but the tile work and mosaics there were what we and everyone else had come to admire.

In the center of the large square was the Tillya Kari Madrassa that was built between 1646 and 1660. Wider than the other two, it had a sublime dome and magnificent gilded interior. 

Its interior courtyard, like the others, was where local trades people had set up shop.

Just when we thought we couldn't be surprised by any more beauty with the religious sights in the Silk Road cities, the splendor of the gold under the dome was breathtaking at Tillya Kari. 

While Steven and I wandered around admiring the Tillya Kari Madrassa, we ran into Waldeim and Anna, the German couple we had met in Nukus in northwest Uzbekistan and with whom we had toured the unparalleled Midzakhan necropolis. It was fun catching up with them again and to learn they had also recently toured both Khiva and Bukhara, too. 

I found really interesting the photos that showed how things were a hundred years ago in ruins and how they looked now. 

From the sublime to the ridiculous back at the Ulug Beg Madrassa, the first one that was built at Registan:

The beauty of the Registan is that each of the buildings had its own distinct style. Neither of the others had the lovely geometric shaped tile work, glazed tiles and exquisite alabaster work of Ulug Beg's madrassa. 

When it was built in the early 1400s, it was the largest scientific-educational establishment in Samarkand. Here students were taught philosophy, astronomy, mathematics as well as theology. 

This scene depicted the Polish astronomer, Jan Hevelius, presenting his book Introduction to Astronomy to the world's famous astronomers and Ulug Beg standing among them.

Its interior courtyard was less over the top than the others were, possibly because it was the first madrassa built on the square.

Each of the Registan's impressive towering madrassas were of such beauty that I felt I could have spent days admiring every detail on the walls, arches, minarets, doors and domes if it had been warmer of course! I felt I could get lost in time just by being there. 

The Registan was surrounded by beautiful gardens, pathways and close to other attractions so it gave one the sense of being in the heart of Samarkand.

Nearby was a towering statue of Islom Karimov, the President of Uzbekistan and its predecessor state, the Uzbekistan Soviet Socialist Republic, from 1989 until his death in 2016. As we'd already observed from visiting several other cities in Uzbekistan, it was impossible to miss Karimov's visage or words by any of the country's great buildings or museums! However, his statue was a magnet for wedding photos.

Just across the street from the Registan was an area I dubbed Wedding Row as there were about ten shops on the block selling wedding finery, flowers and everything else a happy couple would want!

Before returning to the hotel to warm up for a couple of hours, we bought a loaf of local bread called nan. It was like a very large bagel without the hole and weighed at least a pound and, we realized later, dried out in no time. It would have been perfect to lob as a discus or use as a curling stone!

We were all for eating local food but hot dogs gussied up with cheese, ketchup and on a bed of lettuce didn't cut it for us!

Later, when we had warmed up enough, we walked past the Registan again on the way to discover more of Samarkand. 

This monument was described as being to Uzbekistan's museums.

Shortly afterwards, we passed a very long mosaic wall. There was no description we saw, though, about when it was done or the meaning of the designs.

Another interesting wall.

We had come to see Gur-i-Mir, the final resting place of Timur whose military campaigns took him as far north as Moscow, as far southeast as Delhi, as far south as Iran and Afghanistan, as far west as Istanbul, and as far east to Iraq beginning in 1365 and ending in 1404. The lions protected the entrance to the mausoleum complex that also contained other tombs.

The first one we saw was the Rukhobod Mausoleum which is said to contain a hair of the Prophet.

A view of other mausoleums and graves from the Rukhobod doorway:

I wondered again about the Uzbeks' fascination with storks as we had seen sculptures of them in several cities.

We passed easily a dozen fountains in the park that contained several mausoleums but none were working, likely turned off because of the cold weather, I surmised.

A statue of Timur:

Situated a little further from the other monuments, the grand entrance to Timur's mausoleum had the most beautiful entrance arches and magnificent ribbed dome. Even though the mausoleum was originally intended as the final resting place for his favorite grandson, Muhammad Sultan, Timur died soon after and it is therefore also his resting place. That is why Gur-i-Mir means Tomb of the Emir.

Before entering the mausoleum, we took one final look back at the entrance, admiring the inside of the grand portal again.

One of the most ruthless invaders in the history of mankind and responsible for the deaths of more than 17 million people, Timur is, however, considered a hero in Uzbekistan and Gur-i-Mir is a revered place for every Uzbek Muslim.

The map outlined the ruthless warlord's military campaigns and conquests.

Timur’s mausoleum showed just how highly thought of he was. The inside of his resting place was gilded with 6.5 pounds of gold and coated with a golden ceiling. Relief rosettes on the dome imitated a starry sky. Though the inside of the structure was quite small, it didn't make it any less impressive.

I read that on his tombstone this quote was written "When I rise from the dead, the world shall tremble." A second quote, located inside the tomb, said “Whosoever disturbs my tomb will unleash an invader more terrible than I." Two days after the Soviets opened the tomb, Hitler invaded Russia. How prophetic is that! 

Passages from the Koran were written all around the walls.

His tomb was marked by a dark green jade stone, the largest piece of jade in existence! Depending on what we read, he was either buried at the foot of his spiritual adviser, Mir Sayid Barakah, or actually buried underground where nobody is allowed to go. That room is kept locked and once a year only the President visits it. The jade gravestone was surrounded by those belonging to many of his family.

As the mausoleum was treated with much reverence by Muslim visitors, it was all the more beautiful to sit and to hear guides sing prayers for their guests. Their voices echoed in the magnificent chamber.

Just behind Timurid's glorious mausoleum was the Aksaray Mausoleum or White Palace that was built in the 15th century. Scientists suggest that it was built in honor of the governor Abd al Latif who could not be buried in the Gur-i-Mir mausoleum. 

The entrance to Aksaray Mausoleum:

As soon as we entered from the unassuming brick exterior and saw the masterpiece inside, I couldn't for the life of me begin to understand why this mausoleum garnered less than half a dozen words in the travel guide! In my mind, it deserved so much more.

After laying in ruins, the mausoleum was restored in 1924-1925 and renovated again in 2007. 

Everywhere we looked was so fabulous, so stunning and yet there were only a handful of people there compared to the packed Gur-i-Mir Mausoleum only steps away.

There was also Arabic writing on the walls, likely from the Koran. 

It was amusing watching the ticket taker cum custodian trying to reach the center of the dome to clean it as his broom extender wasn't quite long enough!

A narrow staircase led to an octagonal marble crypt.

What a difference a few hours made when we walked past the Registan in the later afternoon and saw it bathed in the sunlight.

The lions on the portal of the Shir Dor Madrassa looked so much more animated in the brighter afternoon sun than they had in the dreary morning. 

The madrassa's ribbed dome looked even more spectacular in the sun.

Even having just spent one day touring a small part of Samarkand, I was so glad that Steven and I chose to visit it as the last of the cities on our Uzbekistan itinerary. The other Silk Road cities of Khiva and Bukhara had been wonderful but clearly we had saved the best for last and would be leaving on a high note with memories of the unparalleled beauty of the Registan fresh in our minds.

Next post: The crumbling Bibi Khanum Mosque and the frenetic Siob Bazaar.

Posted on November 2nd, 2018, from Arinsal, Andorra.